


Don't Stare at the Sun or You'll Go Blind

by moimoi819



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Danzo is DEFINITELY dead because why wouldn't he be, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Ideal World Fic, Itachi is a meddling brother, Namikaze Minato Lives, No Uchiha Massacre, Protective Namikaze Minato, Rivals to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 49,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28621365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moimoi819/pseuds/moimoi819
Summary: The first time he saw her was in the Academy. She was grinning widely at everyone in the room, her white teeth on full display and her bright blue eyes sparkling. Everything about her screamed bright, warm, and gentle. "My name's Uzumaki Naruko, dattebayo!" she shouted obnoxiously loud, her voice filling every corner of the room. So, maybe two out of three wasn't bad.
Relationships: Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Fugaku/Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruko
Comments: 61
Kudos: 264





	1. Chapter 1

The first time he saw her was in the Academy.

He’d been staring out the window, completely ignoring everyone around him. Most of the girls were giggling and whispering (pretty loudly) about him. (How did _any_ of them expect to be ninjas if they couldn’t even be discreet?) Some of the boys were glaring at him while others ignored him just as easily as he ignored them.

Sometimes he didn’t know why he bothered coming to the Academy. Due to the early start he’d gotten while still a toddler, he was already miles ahead of the other children intellectually and in ability. None of his lessons ever provided enough of a challenge for him. The teachers were more than aware that he was a genius so they usually left him to his own devices during class, especially since he never disturbed their lessons.

He had been intent on continuing to stare out the window, contemplating Itachi’s schedule and trying to determine whether or not his big brother would be too busy for him this afternoon. But Iruka-sensei had loudly cleared his throat to get the attention of _everyone_ in the room. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sasuke had turned to face the front of the room. He had only intended to give Iruka a few seconds of his attention to placate the man, but Sasuke’s attention was immediately captured by small, blonde girl standing next to Iruka.

For an eight-year-old, she was shorter than average with the longest, brightest hair that he’d ever seen. He was sure that if she had taken it down from the messy pigtails she had on her head, it would have been long enough to touch her waist. She was grinning widely at everyone in the room, her white teeth on full display and her bright blue eyes sparkling. The orange hoodie with red swirl on the front and white shorts seemed the magnify the bright aura she had around her. Everything about her screamed _bright, warm,_ and _gentle._

 _“_ My name’s Uzumaki Naruko, dattebayo!” she shouted obnoxiously loud, her voice filling every corner of the room.

So, maybe two out of three wasn’t bad.

“Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, Naruko?” Iruka suggested with a sheepish smile in place. His class was a spirited bunch, but it was easy to tell that this girl held more energy and enthusiasm than all of them combined. There was nothing like an enthusiastic student to raise a teacher’s hopes.

“Sure! I like ramen, especially when my mom makes it. My favorite flavor of ramen is miso chashu pork. And I’m gonna be the first and greatest female Hokage!” Naruko declared proudly. Sasuke subtly raised a brow. This girl was just full of surprises.

“Well, why don’t you take a seat, Naruko? You can sit anywhere you like,” Iruka said and gestured to the class.

Sasuke felt his spine straighten subconsciously. The seat next to him was open, his bag holding the space to prevent anyone from sitting next to him. Frequently, he would arrive in class to see almost every girl in class sitting with the seat next to them open as they tried to get his attention and offered him the open seat. This usually meant that he had to claim an open seat next to a male classmate, an empty bench, or the sit next to Hinata. The small Hyuuga was the only girl in the class who was somewhat tolerable. She was so quiet that she never spoke to him and thankfully had no intention of asking him out.

Now, he tried to feign nonchalance as he silently observed Naruko scanning the room. For a second, he was sure that they had made eye contact just before she had smiled brightly. His expression remained neutral as he glanced at the bag resting innocently next to him. He would have to move it for her. Wait, why was he moving it? The last thing he wanted was some loud, obnoxious girl sitting next to him and trying to ask him out and beg for his-

“Can I sit next to you?” Naruko asked as she stopped at the bench in front of his. He paused as he watched the girl he’d been watching talk to Hinata. Hinata nodded her head shyly while scooting over to make room for the blonde girl. Once Naruko was seated, Iruka-sensei went about writing notes for the lesson on the chalkboard.

Sasuke had attempted to continue looking out the window, but every time he was even slightly absorbed in analyzing the shuriken jutsu that Itachi had showed him yesterday, he heard _her_ again. She was attempting to whisper to Hinata about lunchtime, but Sasuke could hear every word as clear as day. He rolled his eyes.

He really should tell her to keep it down. She was so loud that he could barely hear Iruka-sensei (not that he had been listening in the first place, but that was irrelevant). He must have been staring at her too intently because she glanced back and caught his gaze. Her brows furrowed and she asked, “ _What?”_ in a barely whispered voice.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. “You _do_ realize that the point of whispering is so that others _can’t_ hear you?” Sasuke hissed at her.

And just like that, the sun morphed into a volcano.

“Maybe _you_ shouldn’t be listening!” Naruko shouted back, completely disregarding the classroom setting. She completely turned around in her seat while leaning against the back of her chair to glare at him.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Quiet down, dobe,” Sasuke responded in a level tone.

“ _What_ did you call me!?” Naruko shouted in an impossibly loud tone. She was standing on her seat now, looking ready to leap out of it and onto his desk.

Sasuke couldn’t explain it. He never bothered before with any of the girls in his class. They were never worth the effort and he just figured that if he ignored them, they would eventually get the hint and leave him alone. But there was something about that whiskered face that demanded his attention.

“Naruko, sit down. Open your books and take notes on what I’m telling you,” Iruka said with a deep frown.

Sasuke didn’t bother acknowledging Iruka. His onyx gaze remained focused on the bright blue pools in front of him. After a few seconds, Naruko huffed before turning back around and flopping down onto her seat with her arms folded in front of her. Sasuke glared at the back of her head for a few more seconds before he felt his shoulders relax and he released a tense breath that he hadn’t realized that he’d been holding. Idly, he realized that he had been clenching his hands. Glancing down at them, he was mildly surprised to see red, crescent moons dug into his palms. He frowned before tucking his hands under his desk.

~:~

Things didn’t improve after that.

Sasuke had been hell bent on ignoring Naruko with every fiber of his being. But she was so obnoxious and loud and _bright_. She had no sense of stealth whatsoever. She practically stomped around and commanded the attention of everyone in the room. Everywhere she went, she would loudly proclaim that she was going to be the Hokage dattebayo. Sasuke rolled his eyes. And she wore _orange_. What sort of ninja wears orange!? ‘ _A dead one,’_ Sasuke reasoned.

“Okay class. Let’s begin our kunai throwing exercises. Sasuke, why don’t you go first?” Iruka asked and smiled down at the Uchiha.

Unfolding his arms from his chest, Sasuke walked over to where ten kunai were resting and grabbed one. He practiced throwing kunai all the time at the Uchiha training grounds. He wasn’t as good as Itachi, but he was more than skilled enough to meet the Academy standards.

_Thunk, thunk, thunk._

With a blank expression, Sasuke watched as all ten kunai hit the target, most hitting the bullseye or inner most ring. Once finished, he slipped his hands into his pockets, trying to drown out the sounds of girls screeching.

“Very good, Sasuke. Why don’t you try next-” Iruka started, but was cut off.

“I want to go next, Iruka-sensei!”

Sasuke cracked an eye open to watch Naruko as she excitedly raised her hand and jumped onto her toes to get Iruka’s attention. Sasuke scoffed. He’d never seen her abilities outside of the class, but he was sure that they would be just as disappointing as they were inside the classroom.

“Sure, Naruko. Go ahead,” Iruka said with a patient smile. Naruko nodded once and retrieved the kunai from the target.

With a lidded gaze, Sasuke watched Naruko throw the first kunai. When the kunai sailed too far to the right and missed the target completely, he shut his eyes dismissively. He could hear the low noises of frustration that she made as she threw another kunai.

_Thunk, thunk, thunk._

“It’s alright, Naruko. Just focus, breathe, and aim,” Iruka soothed.

Sasuke couldn’t help it. He scoffed. Just as he predicted, he felt the rush of wind hit him as Naruko pointed the kunai at him threateningly.

“Naruko!” Iruka objected.

“You think you’re so cool, teme!” Naruko shouted at him.

“No. But I know that I can at least throw a kunai properly,” Sasuke said with a scoff and folded his arms in front of him.

He heard the unfeminine growl just before he felt the gathering of chakra. What was that idiot doing this time? He looked over at her just in time to see Naruko randomly throw the last kunai off to the side and hit an unsuspecting tree in the middle of its trunk.

_Thunk, CRACK._

Everyone in the class froze as they watched a crack spread up and down the tree, completely splitting the tree in the middle. Sasuke felt his arms unfold as his eyes shot to Naruko in surprise. One at a time, everyone stared silently at her as well.

With a nervous laugh, Naruko rubbed her hand behind her head and said, “I guess I don’t know my own strength! Sorry about the tree, Iruka-sensei.”

“T-that’s alright, Naruko.”

~:~

How had he missed it before?

He’d always thought that Naruko was hopeless and would never make it as a ninja. But he’d been noticing the little things about the girl. After the first incident with the tree, he’d spotted Naruko around the village. He wasn’t _stalking_ her (he preferred to call it “tailing” and an exercise to improve his skills in stealth).

When she pulled pranks in the village, he’d seen her do little things like henge into someone else to avoid getting caught. She couldn’t even do the henge in class properly! When he saw her walking vertically on the Hokage monument and painting moustaches on the faces, his eyes had widened.

Obviously, the girl was hiding a secret. She was obviously farther along than she let on, but how did she get so good? She had to have a teacher, but who?

“ _Tadaima.”_

Hearing the front door close, Sasuke sprang to his feet. Finally! Itachi had been gone all day, but he was _finally_ home. Walking out into the entryway, he heard Itachi speaking.

“Would you like something to drink?”

Sasuke froze when he heard another familiar voice respond.

“Sure, Itachi-nii-san!”

Schooling his expression, Sasuke stood and waited for his older brother to turn the corner. Itachi didn’t react to seeing Sasuke waiting for him, but he didn’t need to. Naruko reacted enough for the both of them.

“What are _you_ doing here!? Are you following me!?” Naruko shouted and pointed at Sasuke accusingly.

He _was,_ but she didn’t need to know that. Sasuke narrowed his gaze at her and frowned. “I _live_ here, dobe.”

“Teme,” Naruko growled as her jaw clenched and her hands fisted.

“I didn’t know that you knew my little brother, Naruko-chan,” Itachi interjected.

Like the flip of a switch, all of Naruko’s anger left her as she grinned happily up at Itachi. “We’re in the same class, but that’s it.”

Sasuke frowned. His eyes took in the sight of Itachi quietly observing Naruko and patting her head before heading towards the kitchen. Sasuke fully expected Naruko to shout at his face _again,_ but he was surprised to see her quickly follow after his brother without hesitation. His frown took on a puzzled expression.

With slower movements, Sasuke moved to stand in the doorway of the kitchen and watched as Naruko spoke about a mile per minute while happily smiling up at Itachi. Itachi was quiet for the entire exchange, a small smile showing that he was listening to Naruko speak.

“You’re so good at shuriken jutsu, Itachi-nii-san. You _have_ to show me how you did that last move!”

What?

“Maybe another time, Naruko-chan,” Itachi said as he poured hot water for the tea that he was preparing. “Sasuke, would you like some tea as well?”

Sasuke watched as Naruko spared him a glance before looking back at Itachi again. Sasuke frowned but remained silent. Itachi brought three cups to the table nonetheless, his eyes observing Sasuke for a few seconds. Sasuke almost told Itachi not to bother. Naruko doesn’t drink tea. But Sasuke was surprised yet again when he saw Naruko claim the seat next to Itachi at the table and bring the steaming cup to her lips.

She _never_ drank tea.

“Sasuke?” Itachi beckoned.

With a narrowed gaze, Sasuke took the seat with the remaining cup of tea before it. “I thought you had a mission, today,” Sasuke pointed out to his brother.

“I said that I was busy. After my last mission, Naruko-chan stopped me and asked for help with her shuriken jutsu,” Itachi said while giving Sasuke an even gaze.

With a thoughtful hum, Sasuke focused on his tea. He could feel Itachi examining him, but he remained stoic. Itachi always did this. With only a few seconds of observation, Itachi could tell exactly what he was thinking. Sasuke wasn’t sure if it was just Itachi’s observational prowess or if he had a natural skill at picking his little brother apart. When Itachi smiled knowingly and placed his cup down, Sasuke felt his spine stiffen.

“Naruko-chan, I’m honored that you felt my skills were satisfactory enough for you to ask for my assistance,” Itachi spoke.

“Of course! Tou-chan is always talking about your skills. He says that you’re a genius just like Kakashi-nii-chan. I can’t ask Kakashi-nii-chan, though. He’s so lazy and barely pays attention when I’m training,” Naruko ranted.

“I think I understand why. You didn’t need much assistance.”

“That’s cause you’re the best teacher ever, Itachi-nii-san.”

Sasuke gripped his cup a bit too roughly when he reached for it and accidentally splashed the hot liquid on his hand. Hissing softly, Sasuke glared harshly down at the offending cup.

“Are you alright, Sasuke?”

“Geez. Don’t you know how to drink tea properly, teme?”

Sasuke felt his shoulders tense and his hackles rise as he shot Naruko a glare. Naruko frowned at him and said, “Don’t get mad at me just because you can’t hold a teacup. You look like a cat that got its tail stepped on.”

“Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke warned.

“Teme!” Naruko shouted and slammed her hands down onto the table.

“Now, let’s calm down. You both shouldn’t treat your friends so poorly,” Itachi chastised gently. Immediately, both children turned stunned and slightly disgusted looks on him.

“He’s _not_ my friend!”

“I would never be friends with _her_!”

Sasuke immediately turned his fierce gaze onto Naruko only for her to sneer at him and stick out her tongue. Sasuke couldn’t help but clench his fists even tighter as his entire body shook. Before Sasuke could do anything (he wasn’t exactly sure _what_ he’d do, but he wasn’t about to let her get away with the _disrespect_ ), a hand came down to break the eye contact between the two children. Sasuke huffed once before sitting back down on his seat (when had he gotten up?). He crossed his arms over his chest and pointedly looked away from Naruko.

“There’s _no_ way you two are related. You’re _way_ too nice to be Sasuke’s big brother, Itachi-nii-san,” Naruko proclaimed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“While I appreciate the compliment, Naruko-chan. I assure you that Sasuke is normally very well behaved,” Itachi said and shot his little brother a look out of the corner of his eyes. Sasuke pouted and moved his gaze down onto the table.

~:~

Itachi was convinced that no one understood his little brother better than he did. It was quite a conceited belief to harbor, but he was only acknowledging fact. People were relatively simple. Itachi had always been able to observe and understand others. He wasn’t blind. That’s why he was confident in his belief that Sasuke had a crush on the Yondaime’s daughter.

Sasuke wasn’t an outgoing or friendly child by any means. His little brother just about tolerated other children. Not once had Sasuke ever invited another child over or asked to play at the park with other children. Itachi had always tried to subtly push Sasuke into being more outgoing and building bonds outside of the clan, but he’d never been very successful. But to see Sasuke willingly engaging with Naruko...

Granted, his adorable little brother was turning red in the face and shouting at the girl. But it was the most reaction that another child had ever been able to get out of Sasuke. Sasuke would normally ignore most children or lash out with biting words that ensured that Sasuke wouldn’t be making friends any time soon. But it would appear that Naruko-chan was determined to push back even harder against his little brother.

Moving over to the sink to wash the used teacups, Itachi kept an ear on the children and side eyed them every few seconds. They were once again arguing- this time about food preferences- and Itachi had to fight to keep a small smile from rising up onto his face. Eventually, they would have to learn to speak to each other with inside voices and without insults. But for now...

“Naruko-chan, if you would like, I could walk you home,” Itachi suggested. Although he was looking down at the blonde, his focus was on his younger brother. Immediately, Naruko stopped glaring at Sasuke long enough to give Itachi a bright smile. Itachi nearly chuckled at the sight of Sasuke looking put out at being ignored.

“Thanks, Itachi-nii-san!” she exclaimed.

“She probably needs the help so she doesn’t get lost,” Sasuke said with a scoff. Predictably, Naruko turned to glare at him, her mouth already opened to start their shouting match all over again. Instead, Itachi placed a hand onto her head and guided her out of the kitchen. A small part of him felt bad seeing Sasuke’s tiniest of pouts, but Itachi did his best to ignore it.

“Teme’s just mad cause I’m gonna to be better than him at shuriken jutsu now,” Naruko proclaimed while slipping on her sandals. Itachi felt himself silently shake with laughter at the quick flush of anger that lit his brother’s cheeks and eyes.

“You have to actually _beat_ me first, Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke reminded and glared down at Naruko. Her gaze narrowed as she finished slipping on her shoes and stood. With both children on equal ground, they did their best to incinerate the other with only their gazes. Itachi hid a smile under the guise of putting on his shoes.

“Duck butt!” Naruko suddenly shouted. It was a rather low blow to go after physical appearances, but it proved to be super effective as Sasuke stepped back in surprise.

It only took a few seconds for anger to replace the surprise. “I’m not a-"

“Are too! You probably use gel or whatever to get your hair to stick up that way!”

Itachi held back a snort of laughter.

“Duck butt! Duck butt! Duck butt!” Naruko teased and punctuated each shout with a finger pointed right at Sasuke’s nose. As Sasuke positively shook in barely suppressed frustration, Naruko pulled down an eyelid, stuck out her tongue, turned on her heel and stomped out of the house.

“Usuratonkachi!”

“Teme!”

~:~

He had to be on the same team as her!?

If he had come from a lesser clan or lacked any proper upbringing, Sasuke might have slammed his head onto his desk. Maybe he was cursed? That would explain why he had been stuck with the _last,_ two people he would ever want for teammates. As Sakura cheered loudly next to him, Sasuke heard a loud thud. Turns out Naruko felt no shame banging her head against the desk. Not like she could lose any more brain cells anyways...

There was no need to panic or worry. All he would have to do is get promoted to Chuunin as soon as possible. Once he was a Chuunin, he wouldn’t be forced to remain on the same team as Naruko.

But how could they put them on the same team!? It was obvious to anyone that looked that they didn’t get along (no matter _what_ Itachi believed). Naruko was just a loud-mouthed idiot who would only hold him back. Sure, she excelled outside of the classroom, but she was still an idiot! Maybe if he could combine Sakura’s book smarts with Naruko’s skill he could get a half-way decent teammate...

“Teme!”

Sasuke refused to admit that Naruko had managed to catch him off-guard when she suddenly appeared in front of him. She was crouched onto his desk and glaring at him with bright blue eyes. Her eyes were piercing, her blonde pigtails were practically shining, and her orange jumpsuit was making him go blind. He glared back.

“Get out of my face, Dobe.”

Her cheeks quickly flushed red and her jaw clenched, but she didn’t immediately start screaming. If anything, she looked to be trying to hold back.

“If we _have_ to be on the same team together, we should at least _try_ to get along.”

Sasuke was floored. He didn’t show it, but her words left him floundering. It was as if someone had pulled the rug out from under him and a trap door was revealed. He narrowed his gaze.

“Tou-chan says that teams are like family,” Naruko explained. She offered a hand in truce. “We don’t have to be friends... just teammates.”

Sasuke couldn’t do anything but blink in shock. _Not_ fight with Naruko? She’d always managed to get on his nerves, frustrate, aggravate, and push him. She consistently got under his skin and _now_ she wanted to stop? It sounded weird, but maybe if she spent less time distracting him, he could get stronger faster...

Sasuke was about to shake her hand when he noticed her moving in too close. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she’d managed to blind-side him _again._ It felt like everything was in slow motion. He could see the surprise bloom on her face as she fell towards him. The hand that she had offered pushed against his chest but it did nothing to stop her lips from crashing onto his.

His first kiss was with Naruko. Itachi would tease him for the rest of his life.

No matter how many times he blinked in shock, he couldn’t stop staring at the sky. He could see Naruko blinking furiously just before she pulled away with a shout. She fell backwards off his desk, but Sasuke couldn’t bring himself to move out of his seat. His entire body felt frozen in place.

It was less of a kiss and more of an aggressive clash of teeth and lips, but he could taste salty broth on his tongue. He was sure that his face was red, he couldn’t get his body under control. His heart was starting to pound and his lips were tingling.

He was snapped out of his daze by Naruko picking herself up off the ground and glaring at him as if _he_ had been the one to instigate the kiss. He glared back at her.

“ _Naruko...”_

A chill went down his spine. Sasuke spotted the murderous gazes most of the girls were shooting Naruko.

“I-it was an accident! Wait a second! I wouldn’t want to kiss the Teme!” Naruko shouted, red in the face. Sasuke felt slightly offended but couldn’t find a reason for it. He wouldn’t want to kiss her either.

~:~

Why had he done it?

He told her that his body just moved on its own, but that was a lie. It was easier to lie. Then he could avoid having to deal with the fallout. But no matter how much he lied and to who he lied, he still found himself in one hell of a mess.

Their mission to Wave had been a disaster, but at least they’d completed the mission and all survived. But the Yondaime didn’t look too pleased. The Yondaime stared at Sasuke with a slightly narrowed gaze, his fingers bridged in front of his face. Sasuke could feel a cold sweat break out on his back, but he did his best to ignore it. Instead, he focused on the sharp pain in his ankle. Manifesting the Sharigan had been a highlight of the mission, but the sprained ankle he’d gotten while trying to fight with it for the first time put a slight damper on his pride.

“Teme,” Naruko scoffed and pulled his arm around her shoulders. “Trying to act all cool in front of Tou-chan when you know you hurt yourself.”

Sasuke froze when he saw the Yondaime’s gaze narrow even further. Naruko was teasing him, but he couldn’t get his mouth to work to tell her off for it. He tried to push her away when he noticed that even Kakashi was watching them now, but Naruko held on.

“Maybe you should go to the hospital, Sasuke. Get your ankle looked at,” Kakashi suggested. Although their Jounin sensei’s posture was relaxed as ever, Sasuke could see a spark of amusement in his grey eye. “Naruko, why don’t you help Sasuke get to the hospital?”

“Teme’ll need all the help he can get,” Naruko proclaimed with a laugh and started tugging Sasuke away. He tried to push her away with a few stuttered objections, but that only resulted in her pulling him onto her back. Sasuke was sure that he felt some light Killing Intent starting to rise as they left the room.

Naruko didn’t feel any sort of shame as she chatted loudly at him. Sasuke did his best to avoid the amused and knowing looks they were receiving, but he could still feel a small blush rise. “Naruko! Put me down. I don’t need-"

“Yeah, yeah! You don’t need help. Give it up, Sasuke. We’re teammates, aren’t we? We gotta help each other,” Naruko brushed him off. “Besides, I owe you.”

He suddenly stopped his somewhat lackluster attempts at escaping when she said that. For once, Naruko seemed to go quiet as she stared down at the ground. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You...saved me. This isn’t the same, but it’s the least I can do. I just wanna pay you back as soon as possible. That’s all,” she said and looked back at him over her shoulder. Sasuke frowned at her but didn’t continue trying to escape. “Besides, it was either let me help or Sakura-chan. Kakashi-nii-chan sure wasn’t going to do it. He knows that if he goes to the hospital, they’re gonna make him stay and get examined, too.”

Sasuke remained quiet after that. Naruko had the forethought to take the roofs instead of parading him through the village on her back, but anyone would just have to look up when they heard her loud voice telling him about the time her Kaa-chan had to drag Kakashi back to the hospital after he broke out for the third time in a month.

The trek to the hospital had almost ended too soon for Sasuke’s liking. He hadn’t realized how relaxed he’d been on the ride over and he was a little reluctant to pull away from Naruko’s warmth. It was when he heard a very familiar voice that he froze up before quickly disentangling himself from Naruko.

“Ne, Sasuke-chan. Did you get hurt on your mission?” Shisui’s teasing voice called out as he smirked down at Sasuke.

Sasuke glared up at Shisui but refused to answer. When he heard his brother’s soft, “Sasuke?” however, Sasuke averted his eyes to the ground.

“He hurt his ankle. Kakashi-sensei told me to bring him to the hospital,” Naruko explained. Sasuke barely refrained from throttling her.

“Thank you, Naruko-chan for looking after my brother,” Itachi said with a small smile.

“It’s the least I could do! Teme only hurt himself when he risked his life to save me,” Naruko said. Shisui’s smirk grew and even Itachi looked pleased. “He tried to act all cool about it though.”

“Naruko,” Sasuke warned. He wasn’t sure if it was the anger or the embarrassment that had his entire body shaking.

“Well, don’t let us keep you,” Shisui said brightly.

“I’ll see you when you get home, Otouto. Naruko-chan, can I count on you to help my brother get home safely?” Itachi asked with a serious voice. But he didn’t fool Sasuke. Sasuke could see the mirth hiding in his older brother’s eyes.

Naruko saluted. “Osu!”

Sasuke wanted to scream. He nearly did. But Naruko was quick to slip her arm around his and tug him towards the hospital doors. She was mindful to provide support to his injured ankle as she led the way with a bright hum. His face flamed again when he heard Shisui call out, “Don’t stay out too late, Sasuke-chan!”

Sometimes, family was more trouble than they were worth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left a comment or kudos on the first chapter. All your kind words are really appreciated! :D

Kakashi hadn’t nominated them for the Chuunin Exams. 

He’d said that he didn’t think that they were ready yet, but Sasuke had his doubts. Maybe Sakura and Naruko weren’t ready yet. But he _definitely_ was. 

“The Chunin Exams are meant to be taken as a team. Kakashi-san probably wants you to take more time to develop your teamwork,” Itachi explained gently. Sasuke pouted and threw another shuriken at the target he was training with. 

“Our teamwork is fine. If anything, it’s probably Sakura holding us back,” Sasuke huffed. The pink haired girl had been spending less time hounding him lately (which he’d always be grateful for), but she was now acting more vicious than ever towards Naruko. Sasuke couldn’t understand her. But maybe he wasn’t meant to understand girls? Most of them were annoying anyways… 

“ _Us?_ ” Itachi parroted. Sasuke froze when he realized his mistake. Itachi’s tone had been mild, but Sasuke had heard the curious undertones. Although his back was to his older brother, Sasuke was sure that Itachi was giving him that ever-patient smile that he got whenever Naruko was mentioned. 

Sasuke shrugged casually. “Hn. I meant _me,_ ” Sasuke corrected. Itachi hummed once. “Naruko isn’t ready yet I guess. She’s not as bad as Sakura, but she’s still not Chunin level yet.” 

“Naruko-chan has improved a great deal recently,” Itachi remarked almost casually. 

“She’s been training with some _pervert_ ,” Sasuke practically hissed. When Sasuke had met the man Naruko had gone on and on about, he’d been less than impressed. Of course, he’d met the tall, white-haired man while he had been peeping at the hot springs. It hadn’t painted a good first impression. And now Naruko was spending all her time with that- 

“Jiraiya-sama is a very respected and experienced shinobi. He was the Yondaime’s sensei,” Itachi said as he approached. Sasuke make a noncommittal grunt as he threw another shuriken. Pausing in his throwing, Sasuke allowed Itachi to readjust his form as he spoke, “It is wise for Naruko-chan to learn as much as she can from him while he’s still in the village. I’m sure she will have more time for you in the future.” 

Sasuke froze as the tips of his ears burned. “I don’t care about spending time with her! We’re just teammates!” Sasuke objected. 

“Of course, otouto,” Itachi agreed and poked at leaf insignia on Sasuke’s headband. Sasuke would have continued to argue, but it was pointless. And judging from the small smile on Itachi’s face, his elder brother knew it too. 

They were _just_ teammates. Maybe an argument could made for the title of “friends”, but _nothing_ more. It had taken forever for Sasuke to be able to call Naruko his friend without cringing. He didn’t have many friends, virtually none outside his family. But, he supposed, Naruko was a bit more tolerable than most. Besides, she had called him her friend first. 

_“Ne, Teme, let’s go get some ramen!” Naruko had practically shouted at him after training. He had been_ _laying on the grass_ _and_ _catching his breath_ _when her face had appeared above his and completely blocked out the sun. Sasuke had frowned at her before sitting up slowly. Idly, he noticed that Sakura had already_ _left but Kakashi was still hanging around with his orange book in hand._

_“Why?” Sasuke_ _asked. He normally wouldn’t have bothered, but this was the first time that she’d bothered to ask him to have ramen with her. She’d normally ask Sakura or even Kakashi to accompany her_ _. She’d only bother to invite him to get Sakura to agree._

_She frowned at him in confusion. “Aren’t you hungry?” she asked and grabbed him by the arm. He tried to object_ _but she was already tugging him to his feet. “Kakashi-_ _nii_ _, do you-” she started but Kakashi was quick to cut her off._

_“No thanks, Naruko._ _You two have fun,” Kakashi said with his usual grin just before he vanished with a puff of smoke._

_“Oh well. More for us, 'ttebayo!” Naruko said and started to pull him_ _away from the training grounds. Sasuke had tried to pull his arm away from her, but Naruko held firm. “Sakura-_ _chan_ _and Kakashi-_ _nii_ _are missing out. There’s nothing better than ramen after a nice training session_ _and it’s even better with friends.”_

_Sasuke’s_ _st_ _r_ _uggles ceased at once. “Friends?” his_ _soft voice repeated._

_Naruko had shot him a confused look over her shoulder. “Yeah!_ _You may be a prickly bastard, but you’re still my friend, Teme_ _,” she had said so resolutely that Sasuke didn’t know how to respond. So, he hadn’t._

_They’d made it all the way to_ _Ichiraku_ _Ramen before he’d realized that_ _their arms were still intertwined._ _She hadn’t seemed to care, but_ _Sasuke could feel his cheeks warming. He wasn’t used to others invading his space so casually. Most people kept their distance from him_ _._ _He’d tried to pull away from her_ _. B_ _ut_ _as soon as he had, she had tugged him along roughly while calling out to someone she knew. Oh great. The last thing he needed was to run into someone he knew while she was all over him like-_

_“Naruko! Sasuke-_ _chan_ _!_ _Did you come for ramen too?”_

_Sasuke_ _froze as he spotted Uzumaki_ _Kushina_ _walking arm in arm with the_ _Yondaime_ _Hokage_ _._ _For a second, it looked like she was tugging her husband along, but then the blonde_ _straightened,_ _and his_ _eye_ _s_ _had immediately sought out Sasuke._

_“Kakashi-_ _nii_ _bailed on us_ _so we came alone_ _,” Naruko explained._

_Kushina_ _had squealed loudly about how “cute” they were together_ _, but the_ _Yondaime_ _only seemed to stare down at Sasuke_ _with an air of intense judgment_ _._ _It_ _had_ _been one of_ _the most awkward meal of_ _Sasuke’s_ _life._

~:~ 

Their mission for the day was surprisingly within the Uchiha clan compound. Normally, his clan members didn’t bother to put in mission requests. Once, Sasuke had managed to overhear his father and mother talking about the Yondaime wanting the Uchiha to rely on the village as much as the village relied on them. He hadn’t fully understood what that meant, but when he’d asked Itachi later, his older brother had gotten a content look on his face and seemed to relax slightly. 

“ _It means_ _that the_ _Yondaime_ _also wishes for the clan to be reintegrated_ _into the village.”_

Sasuke had frowned deeply in confusion. Weren’t they already a part of the village? He’d tried to question Itachi further, but Itachi had been quick to ask for Sasuke’s help with a project (something he _never_ did) and that had been the end of that conversation. 

They were walking along the streets of the compound, Sakura marveling at the size of the compound and how busy it was. “It’s like a small village,” she said and stared at the shops as they passed. 

“The Uchiha clan is very self-sufficient. They’re one of the few clans in Konoha that are and are easily one of the largest,” Kakashi informed with a casual tone. 

“And they make really good senbei!” Naruko interjected with a grin. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the girl. Of course, _that’s_ what she deems important. 

They had spent a few hours pulling weeds and tending to one of his aunt’s garden. Kakashi had basically abandoned them at the elderly woman’s door with a, “Good luck!” As they worked, Sakura had tried making conversation with him on more than one occasion, but Sasuke hadn’t offered more than a few words at a time. His attention had been split between plucking weeds and listening in on the conversation Naruko was having with his aunt. 

He vaguely remembered her watching him while his parents and brother were out of the village or busy. She was a kind woman and had specifically grown tomatoes in her garden just for him. He was listening in on the story of how he’d gone temporarily missing while in her care only for her to find him passed out in her tomato vines with their juices all over his face and hands. 

Sasuke felt his cheeks flame when he heard Naruko’s loud laugh. His aunt’s joining laughter didn’t help him and he tried to refocus on the weeds. He tried to block them out to the best of his ability and nearly breathed a sigh of relief when his aunt disappeared back into her home. 

“I knew you were weird about tomatoes, but I didn’t know it was that bad,” Naruko said with a teasing grin. 

Sasuke tensed and glared at the blonde. “ _Dobe_ , we’re supposed to be on a mission,” he hissed at her. 

“I can pluck dumb weeds and talk at the same time. You just don’t want me to hear any _more_ embarrassing stories about you. But it’s whatever. I’ve already heard _plenty_ from Itachi-nii,” she said with a sly grin. 

Sasuke nearly threw the clump of weeds in his hand at her. “ _Liar,”_ he accused. There was no way his big brother would tell her anything embarrassing about him! Itachi did like to tease him, but it was always something between them. Itachi would never let someone else- 

“I know about Ryuu-chan,” she whispered and grinned even wider. The garden seemed to grow quiet as Sasuke felt a blush rise up from his neck. 

“Sasuke-kun?” Sakura questioned, but Sasuke didn’t respond. He couldn’t look away from Naruko’s shit-eating grin. He’d never thought Itachi would sink so low as to tell the girl about his stuffed dinosaur toy. Just _how_ had _that_ conversation even come up? 

Naruko laughed so suddenly and loudly that she bent at the waist. He could see the tears gathering in her eyes as she fell over. “Y-you’re… so… _red, 'ttebayo!”_ she practically shrieked and kicked her feet wildly. 

“ _Naruko,”_ Sasuke hissed and tackled the giggling girl. 

~:~ 

When Kakashi came to pick them up later, he stared at Sasuke and Naruko’s matching, black eyes for a few seconds before humming once to himself and starting the trek back to the mission’s desk. Sakura had been staring at both of them with a look of exasperation and had sped up to walk at their sensei’s side and away from them. Sasuke followed behind with his hands tucked in his pockets, his shoulders tense. 

Maybe he was being a bit dramatic, but the idea that his big brother was spending his time telling Naruko embarrassing stories and secrets from their childhood didn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t sure what about it bothered him so much. 

He barely noticed when Naruko had stepped away from his side, but she managed to pull him out of his thoughts when she shoved a senbei in front of his face. He blinked at her in confusion and saw that she was holding one as well. With a soft grunt, Sasuke took the offered food and took a bite. He _was_ hungry… 

They were almost to the outskirts of the compound when Sasuke spotted Itachi approaching with Izumi at his side. They were sharing dango as they strolled and Sasuke felt even more suspicion that his older brother was more than _just friends_ with the girl (no matter how much Itachi denied it). Itachi had been listening to her raptly but had smiled softly upon making eye contact with Sasuke. Sasuke narrowed his gaze at his Itachi. 

Seeing that she no longer held Itachi’s attention, Izumi turned to face him. “Sasuke-kun, how are you? I haven’t seen you in a while,” she greeted with a smile. 

“I’m not surprised. You have been spending _an awful lot_ of time with my brother,” Sasuke not so subtly hinted while keeping his gaze trained on Itachi. 

Unlike Izumi’s deep blush, Itachi’s face remained impassive. “I could say the same for you, foolish little brother,” Itachi said with a quick glance at Naruko. Sasuke had started to speak again, but before he could get a sound out, Itachi had managed to flick his headband up to the top of his head and land a vicious poke to his exposed forehead. Sasuke rubbed at his forehead with a pout. “Nice eye,” Itachi teased while walking around him. 

“Ne, Itachi-kun. You shouldn’t tease your little brother so much. I think they’re cute together,” Izumi said as she left with him. 

Sasuke was sure that his face would be red for the rest of his life. Naruko was standing next to him and scratching at her head in a confused manner, completely puzzled by the entire exchange. When Sasuke turned back around, he spotted the amused look in Kakashi’s eye. Kakashi sighed once with a shrug and muttered about “young love”. Before Sasuke could retaliate, his sensei abruptly turned and started walking again. 

“I still don’t get it,” Naruko muttered and moved to catch up with Kakashi. 

Sasuke noticed that Sakura didn’t move, however. She remained where she was, staring at him with a sad and almost wistful look in her eyes. He raised a brow at her, but she stared down at the half-eaten treat in his hand. Without another word, she took a deep breath, gave him a resigned look, and turned to walk after the others. Sasuke blinked at her straight back in confusion. Now _he_ didn’t get it. 

~:~ 

She was leaving the village. 

Their team was being disbanded because she was to leave the village with that old pervert. When she’d talked about it, she’d sounded excited to leave. She kept bragging about how much training she would be doing and how much stronger she was going to get, but Sasuke couldn’t focus on that. She was _leaving them._

He’d been quiet- more so than normal- throughout their D ranks that day. He could feel Sakura’s eyes on him and even Kakashi was shooting him subtle looks. Only Naruko was carrying on as if nothing was wrong. And really, _was_ anything wrong? 

Isn’t this what he’d pushed for? He’d always teased and taunted her with his strength. Challenged her to get stronger- to be _better_ than him. He didn’t think that she’d need to leave to village to do it. Couldn’t she stay here and train? Couldn’t that old perv just train her here? 

“That’s enough for today, I think. We’ll meet up tomorrow at 8,” Kakashi said once they had finished weeding some farmer’s fields. 

“You mean at 10 when you’ll finally show up,” Sakura pointed out smartly. Kakashi flashed her a bright smile and ruffled the hair on her head before disappearing with a pop. 

“See you guys later. I gotta go find Ero Sennin!” Naruko said and ran off before Sasuke could even respond. He wasn’t sure what he would have said to her, but it didn’t really matter in the end. 

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura started. Sasuke barely held back the flinch at the sound of her voice. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, but she was staring at where Naruko had run off and awkwardly rubbing her arm. 

“What?” Sasuke asked. He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but this day was already wearing on his nerves and he wasn’t sure if he could take her asking him out _again._

“You should tell her…before she leaves,” Sakura said. Sasuke turned to face Sakura with a look of confusion. Sakura didn’t look at him, but she did keep talking. “You should tell her that you like her.” 

“What the _hell_ are you talking about?” Sasuke nearly shrieked. 

Sakura had the _nerve_ to look at him as if he were stupid. “I know you haven’t told her yet. You should tell her before she leaves. You never know. She might meet someone really nice out there. But if you tell her now, then your feelings will be connected and-” 

Sasuke shook his head and walked away from Sakura as quickly as he could. What the _hell_ had that been about? He knew that Sakura had been acting strangely lately, but now he wasn’t so sure that it was really Sakura. Sakura was decently intelligent, but that had been the _stupidest,_ most _idiotic_ thing he’d ever heard her say. Really? He _liked_ Naruko??? 

Sasuke scoffed out loud. 

~:~ 

Sasuke had gotten up the morning that Naruko had left feeling a vaguely empty feeling. He hadn’t bothered to see her off. Why bother? He’d said everything he’d wanted to say already. 

_“You should tell_ _her that you like her.”_

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his ceiling with a soft scoff. Naruko was a friend in the loosest definition of the word. Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke could be (just) friends with someone- even if that someone was a girl. 

Sasuke hadn’t given too much thought to the kind of girl he would marry. But whenever he had, he had always imagined her to be like his mother. Calm, reserved, kind, warm, and strong. Naruko was the complete opposite of demur and _quiet._ Sneakily, the thought popped into his head that the girl he had just described was very similar to Hinata. Sasuke frowned deeply and rubbed a hand over his chest. If the thought of liking Naruko had made him uncomfortable, the thought of ending up with a girl like Hinata left him feeling- 

“Teme!” 

Barely restraining himself from leaping up from his bed, Sasuke sat up and turned a glare on the bright presence crouched at his window. Naruko was frowning at him while slipping into his room without his permission. Her dusty sandals were rubbing on his sheets. Sasuke pointedly glared at her feet, but she didn’t bother to remove them. 

“Don’t tell me you’ve been here all morning,” Naruko objected. 

Sasuke tried to keep an ear out for his mother. His house was normally very peaceful and quiet. But with Naruko within its walls, it was as if the very air came alive. Her voice tended to travel after all. The last thing he wanted was for his mother to find her in his room. She’d only start gossiping with Itachi and Kushina about how “close” they were. 

“It _is_ my room, Dobe,” Sasuke pointed out dryly. He watched her cheeks puff out as she pouted at him. Her eyes were trained on him, but he didn’t know what she wanted him to say. 

“Don’t tell me I hit you too hard the last time we sparred. Did you forget that I’m leaving today?” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “ _You’re_ the one with brain damage, not me,” Sasuke scoffed and went back to laying on his back. He rested his hands behind his head and kept his gaze trained on the ceiling. He waited for her to start shouting, but she kept quiet. That was fine with him. He liked it quiet. 

When she moved to lay next to him, Sasuke froze. She copied his pose and Sasuke scooted to the edge of the bed to keep some space between them. “I guess I’m not surprised you didn’t want to say goodbye in front of everyone. You could have come over last night or something though,” Naruko huffed. 

“And have to explain to the Yondaime why I was standing at his door?” Sasuke mumbled without meaning to. 

She snorted loudly. “Tou-chan is always scaring my friends. He tried to get Kakashi-nii to follow me around and report back to him, but he stopped when Kaa-chan got mad at him.” 

The conversation died down then. Sasuke had never been good at keeping a conversation flowing. He either didn’t speak enough or he said something that offended the other person enough not to want to keep conversing with him. Naruko was the first person outside of his family that wasn’t fazed by his poor social skills. And in a weird way, it worked. He talked too little and she talked too much. Not only that, but she made it easy for him to express himself. Granted, he was normally expressing annoyance and anger around her but it was better than cold silence. 

With a sigh she rolled over to rest her cheek on her palm and look down at him. “I’ll miss you, Teme.” 

Sasuke had tried not to look at her, but he couldn’t help it. His heart had thudded in his chest once and he could feel _something_ clawing its way up his chest. He hadn’t realized how much he had wanted the confirmation that she would miss him too until he had it. (Wait, “ _too”?_ ) He still wasn’t sure what to say so he settled on, “Hn.” 

It must have been the right thing to say because she suddenly smiled brightly at him and punched his side roughly. Although he had braced for the hit, a small gasp had still escaped him as he fell over the side of his bed. She was peeking over the edge of his bed and laughing down at him without any concern for how loud she was. Sasuke glared up at her and tried to will away the blush that he knew was tinting his cheeks. 

As he was pulling himself up from the floor, she moved back over to his window and crouched on the frame again. “Ne, Sasuke?” 

“What?” 

“When I come back, let’s fight. I’m going to be training hard so I can get stronger. I’ll catch up to you in no time,” she proclaimed with so much conviction that he nearly believed her. 

He scoffed and slipped his hands into his pockets. “We’ll see about that, Dobe.” 

She narrowed her gaze at him from over her shoulder before holding out her fist to him. It took him a few seconds to decide but he pulled his hand from his pocket to bump his fist against hers with a smirk. 

With one more grin, she shouted, “Later, Teme!” and jumped. His hand lowered back down to his side as he watched her leap over rooftops and away, carrying all her warmth and energy with her. Slowly, the atmosphere in his room returned to normal and Sasuke moved over to his window to shut it closed. 

He had no idea how long she would be gone, but he would be ready for when she did. He’d promised her a fight and he wasn’t going to go easy on her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone else get weird random spaces all over the chapter? I see them, but only after the chapters are posted and I don't know how to make them go away. :-/

Three years was much shorter than it seemed.

Maybe it was the constant stream of missions only being broken up by short periods of time off and training that made the time seem to fly by. Whatever it was, it felt like one second Sasuke was a thirteen-year-old genin and in the next he was sixteen and a jounin. He’d been the first of his graduating class to make jounin, but he’d seen that coming. He’d been surrounded by high level shinobi from the moment he was born. And now he was considered among their ranks.

“You should rest,” Kakashi idly pointed out as he flipped to another page in his book. Sasuke didn’t bother to respond to the man. He stared down at the fire between them, his arm resting atop his bent leg. The sound of Kakashi turning another page filled the silence.

Sasuke didn’t mind running missions with Kakashi. The older jounin was more than competent and a very tolerable partner. Kakashi didn’t feel the need to chatter pointlessly and was very quick to tell when Sasuke wasn’t in the mood for his teasing.

After their team had dissolved, Kakashi was the only one Sasuke had bothered to keep relatively in contact with. Kakashi was just as awkward and hesitant at reaching out to others as Sasuke was. So when their paths kept bumping into each other whether through Itachi or pure circumstance, it made it much easier to build common ground between them.

When Sasuke had wanted to train for the Chunin Exams, it had been Kakashi that he’d asked. His former sensei had been surprised to say the least. Granted Itachi and Shisui had both been away from the village on an extended mission at the time, but it was the thought that counted. Kakashi must have seen Sasuke’s drive to not only pass the exam but to step out of Itachi’s shadow. While he was an only child and probably didn’t fully understand the kind of pressure that Sasuke had been under, Kakashi had done his best to prepare Sasuke. Looking back on it, he may have gone a bit overboard and made Sasuke a bit _too_ prepared, but Sasuke hadn’t complained. If anything, the strength and skill he’d displayed had only brought pride to his clan and the village. After that, Sasuke had regularly sought him out for training sessions and Kakashi had taken it all in stride.

Sasuke couldn’t say the same for his relationship with Sakura. He supposed he did consider her a friend, more so than most of the people in the village. She did try to see him when she wasn’t busy with her training and hospital duties, but they rarely found time to meet outside his regular physicals and the rare stay in the hospital after a difficult mission.

Sasuke breathed deeply before leaning back against the tree behind him and closing his eyes. They weren’t due to be back in Konoha for several days and tomorrow their mission would officially start. “Wake me in a few hours,” Sasuke said. Kakashi hummed once in acknowledgement.

~:~

His sandals were muddy, sweat was gathering on his back, and he vaguely smelled of old blood. Sasuke was sure that he was starting to get bags under his eyes from the minimal amounts of sleep he’d gotten the past few days. What was supposed to be a simple infiltration and scouting mission of one of Orochimaru’s possible bases quickly turned into an ambush and fight for their lives. The kinds of creatures that they’d found in that underground cavern hadn’t even _looked_ human.

Sasuke eyed the bandages around Kakashi’s arm from the corner of his eyes as the leapt over tree branches. Kakashi had taken a vicious bite from a large, snakelike creature in an effort to protect Sasuke. The older man had immediately gone down from the hit and Sasuke’s body had responded before he’d even realized it. Eyes blazing red, Sasuke had weaved and moved around the hissing creatures with his hands flowing through the mudras for the strongest fire jutsus in his arsenal.

Sasuke hadn’t realized that he’d put Kakashi up on a pedestal like he’d done Itachi until he’d crouched at his former sensei’s side and watched him slowly bleed out and lose consciousness. Kakashi had always seemed so larger than life. His hands had shaken only slightly as he administered the antitoxin that they’d brought with them. Using the rising smoke and ashes as cover, Sasuke had pulled Kakashi’s limp body onto his back and make a quick retreat from the base. He’d kept watch over Kakashi for over a day before the man had finally woken. They hadn’t spoken about the exchange, but Sasuke was sure that Kakashi was aware of the frequent checks that he was doing to Kakashi’s well-being.

Now, here they were, on their way back to Konoha. The Yondaime had called them back and had already sent out another team to continue in their place. Normally, Sasuke would feel insulted that he was being recalled from a mission and replaced as if he couldn’t handle it, but he’d more than recognized the need to fall back.

“If you worry any more, you’ll get frown lines,” Kakashi said.

“Hn. If you weren’t so reckless, then I wouldn’t have to save your ass,” Sasuke replied. ‘ _Then I wouldn’t have to worry.’_

“If I had let you get hurt, then Itachi would have put me in the hospital anyways,” Kakashi pointed out. Sasuke shot Kakashi another look, his mind running on an old memory.

_“I won’t allow my comrades to die. I’ll protect you with my life.”_

Sasuke scoffed softly and refocused on their path.

~:~

It had been Tsunade that had treated them when they’d gotten back to Konoha. Sasuke still wasn’t sure how he felt about the woman. He recognized her strength and he was vaguely familiar with her reputation. He didn’t care for her alcoholism or gambling ways, but he’d gained a small sense of respect for her after she’d treated his brother. About two years ago, Itachi had started showing signs of an unknown illness. Even when none of the doctors or medics in Konoha could help him, Sasuke still hadn’t wanted to give up hope. The Yondaime had requested that Tsunade return to the village as a favor to the Uchiha. Sasuke had dared to let the hope in his chest grow- the world’s best medic? She’d definitely be able to save Itachi. But when Sasuke had heard that the slug Sannin hadn’t responded in the politest of ways, he’d instead cursed the woman’s name and bloodline to hell and back, making his mother blush and father admonish him for the creativity of his insults. But then suddenly, Tsunade had arrived in the village claiming to have lost a bet to Naruko and to point her toward the Uchiha brat. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what Naruko had done, but he’d felt a deep sense of gratitude to the girl.

Tsunade still had to prove herself in Sasuke’s eyes, however. Despite Itachi’s warnings of showing respect, Sasuke hadn’t held his tongue and had told the woman _exactly_ what he thought of her. Sasuke supposes that he was lucky that she hadn’t broken his ribs for the disrespect, but he’d had Naruko to thank for that show of mercy yet again. Tsunade had taken one good look at him and instantly recognized him with a knowing smirk. And now there was another person in the village was convinced that there was some sort of relationship between him and Naruko. Just what had she _told_ Tsunade?

Sasuke felt the arrival of his brother’s chakra in the room less than a second before his brother shushined at his bedside. Itachi’s eyes roved over Sasuke’s form as he spoke in a rushed tone, “Are you alright? I just got back and heard from Kaa-san that you were in the hospital. What happened?”

Sasuke wanted to shrink away from his brother’s worried gaze, but a part of him felt a bit lighter to have his brother’s full attention on him. “I’m _fine,_ Nii-san.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine as well,” Kakashi said from his bed across the room.

Itachi spared him a glance and Sasuke watched them communicate without words. Sasuke was sure that it had to be a prodigy thing, because their silent conversation was lost on him. “Thank you, Kakashi-san.” Itachi had sounded deeply grateful.

Kakashi smiled brightly, his eye closing with a curve, and said, “Of course. I’m more than used to keeping an eye on him by now.”

Sasuke scowled.

“It’s nice to know that he has others that care for him,” Itachi said, making the tips of Sasuke’s ears warm. Ignoring Sasuke’s hiss of annoyance, Itachi opened the window next to Sasuke’s bed and stared out. “I think I’ll be feeling even better knowing that he’ll have another familiar face around,” Itachi said and moved to lean against the wall. Kakashi lowered his book and let out an intrigued hum.

Sasuke loved his brother, but he was always so cryptic. He was about to ask what the hell Itachi was talking about when a blur of orange and yellow dashed through the open window and landed at his bedside. “Teme!” Naruko shouted as she pulled him by the front of his shirt into her personal space.

_Blue_. He thought he remembered what she looked like, but his memory must have faded. Her eyes were even brighter than he remembered. Her bangs were longer now, the tips brushing against her long eye lashes. Her face had slimmed, the baby fat disappearing from her cheeks. The whisker marks on her cheeks were twitching and moving quickly as she spoke, but he couldn’t hear a word she said. Her lips hadn’t been that pink when they were younger.

“-hurt like an idiot!” she finished shouting.

He narrowed his gaze at her and shoved her hands off him. “Hn. Between the two of us, you’ve gotten hurt more times than you can count from doing something idiotic, Dobe.”

Instantly, her face flamed. “Teme! Here I was worried about you for no reason. I guess it’s too much to hope that someone would have hit you hard enough to knock that stick out your ass,” she said and folded her arms over her chest. Chest. _Chest._ She had-

“No worry for your former sensei, Naruko?” Kakashi asked in his best attempt at sounding pitiful.

“Ne, Kakashi-nii… You’re always getting hurt and exhausting yourself,” Naruko pointed out. Kakashi seemed to deflate with a low groan while Itachi smiled in amusement.

“How did you know I was here anyways?” Sasuke asked.

Naruko turned back to him and pointed at Itachi over her shoulder. “I ran into Itachi-nii outside your house. He told me that he was going to see you in the hospital. I didn’t want to get in his way because he looked like he was ready to tear down the Hokage Monument, 'ttebayo.”

Itachi didn’t confirm or deny her words.

“Did Tsunade-Baa-chan heal you?” she asked.

“I’m fine. They’ll be letting me out by tomorrow,” Sasuke answered.

Instantly, her face lit up. She took a step closer to him and Sasuke felt a breath leave him at the intensity of her stare. She had a small fist raised in front of her as she grinned at him. “Good! Because you owe me a fight, Teme.”

Sasuke blinked twice before scoffing. “Are you in that much of a rush to lose?”

She laughed loudly with her hands on her hips. Her laugh wasn’t delicate by any means. It wasn’t a ladylike laugh, but a loud, full-body guffaw. She still laughed with her whole body. “You _wish_ , Teme. I gotta go see Tou-chan to let him know that I’m back. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dying first,” she said and leapt onto the windowsill. Sasuke scoffed. “Make sure you heal up. I don’t want you to make any excuses when I kick your ass,” she said with a smirk and jumped.

Sasuke stared at the spot where she had been for a few seconds before looking away. Immediately, he noticed the knowing looks Itachi and Kakashi were giving him. Sasuke scowled at them both before kicking away his covers and leaving with a flimsy excuse tossed over his shoulder.

~:~

Itachi had been curious as to how the relationship between his little brother and Naruko would change after their time apart. He was very pleased to have witnessed their reunion firsthand. His mother would want to know all the details later, so he had made sure to pay very close attention.

His little brother was even more enamored with the girl. But even more than that, he had seen the mutual interest in her eyes as well.

But how to proceed?

Judging by how his little brother had quickly fled the room, Itachi could tell that Sasuke wasn’t going to make this easy on him. Unfortunately, his little brother had a tendency to be difficult. Thankfully, Itachi loved a challenge.

“Minato-sensei won’t be pleased about this,” Kakashi remarked idly as he read his book.

Itachi hummed once. Kakashi was right. The Yondaime was notorious for his protective streak. If Itachi were a more insubordinate shinobi, he would have already directly addressed the Yondaime’s less than friendly attitude towards his younger brother. Granted, the Hokage had been much more receptive towards Sasuke once Naruko had left the village. But the man was sure to pose a challenge once again.

“It’s a good thing, Kushina-san has the final say,” Kakashi said and turned a page.

And just like that, an idea started to form in his mind. “Thank you, Kakashi-san,” Itachi said and turned to leave through the window.

“Hmm? For what?” Kakashi replied with a tilt of his head and a glint in his grey eye.

~:~

Somehow, without prior discussion, they’d decided to meet in training ground 7 at the crack of dawn the next morning. Sasuke had found her meditating in front of the wooden pole that she had once been tied to, her body completely still with only her blonde hair swaying in the light breeze. For a second, he stopped and stared. He’d never seen her so…still. Naruko was always a whirlwind of movement and energy, never able to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. Continuing on with his approach, he watched her for any sign that she was aware of him, but he got none. “I didn’t know you could sit still long enough to meditate.”

She smiled and opened her eyes. “I’ve picked up a few tricks these past few years, 'ttebayo!”

Sasuke felt his heart rate pick up as a familiar energy filled him. He’d sparred with several people both in and out of the village the past three years, but none of them gave him the feeling that he got when he fought her. When they were kids in the academy, he’d thought he was just frustrated and annoyed by her. But after being on the same team with her, that frustrated energy had left him, and a new feeling of excitement took its place. He liked a good challenge and Naruko had always been that. Even when he won their bouts, she’d always made him work for it- reacting and moving in ways that had him sometimes abandoning what he’d known and resorting brawling with her. And now, she had new strengths to show him.

He let the chakra gather behind his eyes as he watched her stand. His vision sharpened as he watched her return his gaze with a small smile. “If you’re going to take me seriously, then I’ll do the same for you,” she said and took her stance.

“You’re going to have to. You won’t last long if you don’t,” he taunted with a smirk.

His heart was starting to pound now. He normally kept a leash on his chakra, something he’d picked up from Kakashi, but he released it now. He could see and feel her chakra swirling around her in response. His sharingan allowed him to see all the minute details about her. He could see the vein on her neck thrumming away. Idly, he noticed that their hearts were pounding almost in sync. He released a slow breath before moving.

The first few minutes were strictly taijutsu. He used the time to test her, leaving some obvious and some not so obvious holes in his defenses to see what she would do. More than once, she fell for it and he was always quick to punish those mistakes with a well-aimed punch or kick. Slowly, he started to increase the intensity and speed at which he attacked. He left fewer holes for her this time, but she seemed to catch on quickly enough anyways.

Their movements were starting to blur together now. He could see the intense focus in her eyes as she watched him. When they were younger, it had been easy to distract her with an extra wave of his arm or an aborted movement. But her focus didn’t waver. It wasn’t like he had too many chances to test her, however. She was picking up the pace this time.

Despite the almost frenetic way she was striking at him, his eyes could keep up with every move. He could see the frustration starting to well up behind her eyes and smirked. Her eyes widened just before she actually growled at him and shot out a fist at his face. He was quick to duck and dodge the strike while delivering a punch of his own to her gut. He heard the air leave her in a whoosh as she staggered backwards. Using a move that he had copied from Kakashi, he did a quick spin and delivered a kick to her face that sent her flying.

He followed her as she tumbled roughly with a cry, his fingers already pulling a kunai free from the pouch at his thigh. She landed on her back and before she could get back up, he had his kunai pointed at her face. He could see the surprise in her eyes before a smile slid onto her face. He almost smirked again, but she stuck out her tongue at him and disappeared with a pop.

His instincts were screaming at him to dodge and he barely managed to avoid her hand as she went flying over his head from behind. He hadn’t even noticed her weave the hand signs for her clones! There were four of her now, each one attacking him from all sides with kunai in their hands. He was still controlling the flow of the fight, however.

When he was decently confident that he’d seen enough of her improved taijutsu, he tossed one clone into another and substituted away. Hands flying, he gathered up the chakra for a fire ball. He was sure that she was little more than a blur to the average eye, but he could see her every step in the wide arc she was taking to avoid his attack. The fireball had barely left his lips before he was summoning lighting to his palm. He watched her eyes go wide as she stopped dead in her tracks, but she didn’t move fast enough to dodge the stream of lightning he was moving through the ground.

He heard her cry out just before she popped again.

He felt the ground shift beneath him too late and got a vicious uppercut for his trouble. He heard the wind whipping past his ears as he flipped in the air and before he could right himself, he felt her hands grab his feet and throw him onto the ground with a shout.

Their fight proceeded like this for a while. He used lightning and fire to trip her up, but she was always sneaky with her clones- as if she’d prepared specifically for his eyes. (He ignored the pleased feeling moving through him to know that she’d gone through so much trouble for him.) After about an hour, he could feel himself starting to tire as his chakra reserves began to dip.

But she just kept getting back up. She would take a punch to the face and still get back up to hit him in the gut. He could land a kick to her stomach that sent her flying just to send out some clones to distract him while she got ready for a counterattack. She was by no means as skilled as Kakashi or Itachi, but she definitely lasted longer than them.

Eventually, he lost track of time. Their fight had lasted for _hours_. It was nearing sundown now, and she was only _just_ starting to tire. He could feel the sweat soaking his shirt and how his muscles were starting to scream at him. He was trying to get his breathing under control from where he was kneeling on the ground. She was bent at the waist and panting slightly, her jacket opened and the black tank top beneath it starting to collect her own sweat. When she slowly stood up again, Sasuke nearly cursed. Breathing deeply, he pushed himself back up again.

He watched her summon a clone and hold out her hand to it. His eyes widened at the new jutsu. It looked like a small ball of raw chakra spinning wildly in her palm. He watched as the chakra continued to spin without losing shape- shape manipulation. A dense ball of compressed chakra. A hit from attack like that would definitely knock him out. Sasuke felt mildly impressed.

He didn’t have too much chakra left and he was decently tired. But he was sure that he could dodge her attack. Dodge her and try to restrain her… somehow. But then he saw the look in her eyes. She was challenging him- daring him to dodge her. Almost like a cat, he felt his hackles rise and summoned lightning to his palm. It wasn’t enough to cause any serious damage, but it would be enough to meet her head on.

“ _Sasuke!”_

_“Naruko!”_

The resulting light from their combined attacks was blinding. Maybe it was the exhaustion messing with his head. Maybe it was the light from their combined jutsus messing with his eyes and making him see things. But he was sure that in that moment that their jutsu connected that he was seeing himself- a much younger version of himself standing on the dock at the lake near the Uchiha compound.

From where he was standing atop the hill, he looked down at his younger self that was standing next to a much older Naruko. He could recognize the bandages on his face and arms from when he had been first learning the fireball jutsu. He watched his younger self breathe out a small stream of fire and heard the soft gasp at his side. He looked off to his left and noticed a younger Naruko watching his younger self practice with a wide-eyed stare. He watched as his younger self momentarily stopped his practice to look back and notice her. The smaller Sasuke stared for only a second before scowling and looking away. And just like that, she scowled as well and started to stomp away. Sasuke watched her go down the path with a pout on her face, but she slowed after a few steps. She looked back at the young boy still practicing his jutsu before quickly dashing away.

When the hallucination (or was it a memory?) faded away, Sasuke blinked up at the orange and reds tinting the sky. He wasn’t panting and his heart rate had returned to normal. How long had he been laying here? His limbs were still screaming, but he forced himself to sit up anyways. He spotted Naruko laying on her back a few feet away. “Oi! Don’t tell me you’re knocked out over there,” Sasuke called out.

He heard her laugh lightly before she pulled herself up as well to give him a tired look. She slowly pushed herself up from the ground before walking over to him. “You look like shit,” she said and offered him a hand.

He rolled his eyes and clasped her hand with his. “Can you even see anything with that eye?” he asked and pointedly stared at her rapidly swelling and bruised eye.

She huffed at him and stretched her arms over her head. “I’m _starving_. I could go for some ramen right about now.”

“When _don’t_ you want ramen?” he asked and started walking back towards the village. No matter how things change, they stay the same.

~:~

Sasuke wasn’t sure how it started, but he suspected that Itachi was to blame. His elder brother sipped from his teacup, the perfect picture of a well-mannered son. He completely ignored the loud voices at the other end of the table as he placed his cup down and continued to eat his dinner.

“And then he started sneezing so much that he ended up spilling his ramen all over himself!” Kushina exclaimed with a loud laugh. Mikoto giggled lightly from behind her hand while the Yondaime slumped in his seat with pink cheeks.

Naruko was snickering from her seat next to her father. “Geez, Tou-chan. I didn’t know you were so lame.”

Minato looked positively scandalized at his daughter’s words, as if she had shot an arrow through his heart. Before he could do anything to redeem himself in his daughter’s eyes, Kushina interjected, “He was the lamest when we first started going out. We would have gotten _nowhere_ if I hadn’t taken charge, 'ttebane.”

Sasuke watched the usually stern and dignified Hokage, slump over his plate with an air of dejection. Sasuke probably would have felt some pity for the man if he hadn’t been such a hardass towards Sasuke in the past. Sasuke knew that the Hokage was just overprotective of his only daughter. A part of Sasuke tried not to care too much about it. He imagined it must be hard to have a daughter, especially one as beautiful as-

Sasuke coughed lightly as he tried to clear the rice that he’d accidentally choked on. Immediately, he garnered the attention of everyone else at the dinner table and he tried to calm his body’s violent reaction to his crazy thinking. “Sasuke?” Itachi questioned with a brow raised.

“Geez, Teme. I didn’t think you needed someone to feed you just so you don’t choke,” Naruko teased.

Sasuke glared at her from across the table. “ _Dobe_ ,” he croaked.

This had been his life as of late. One random Friday, his mother had asked him to pick up extra groceries for her because they were having guests over for dinner. He’d been surprised by this. His parents did entertain guests, but it was usually other clan heads or dignitaries that visited the village. Normally, he had adequate warning ahead of time when that happened.

So, he’d been moderately surprised when the Uzumaki-Namikaze household had been led into the house by Itachi and Naruko had immediately teased Sasuke for the pink apron he’d been wearing at the time. His mother had asked him to help her with the miso! Like a dutiful son, he’d lent a hand while Itachi and his father had been busy discussing something important. When Kushina had cooed that Minato had one just like it, Sasuke had nearly tossed the apron on the floor and set it ablaze.

That had been almost a month ago. These combined family dinners happened once a week and alternated between both homes. Sasuke was sure that Itachi was to blame. His mother would normally have lunch with Kushina when she wanted to see her. Never before had she so adamantly demanded that they would be having frequent dinner guests. His father had initially objected- Kushina had a tendency to completely bulldoze over his father’s opinions and butt heads with the man. But one sharp look from his mother was all it took for his father to back down and retreat to his study. Normally, Fugaku kept his peace for most of the meal and only bothered to speak when discussing village matters with Itachi and the Yondaime.

Once dinner had ended, Kushina had gotten up to help his mother clear the table while his father had left with the Yondaime to discuss some new trade agreement with Suna. Itachi had quietly excused himself and that left Sasuke and Naruko to their own devices. Sasuke had led her out to the backyard and they sat on the engawa to enjoy the cooling, night air.

“Tou-chan says that the next Chunin Exams are being held in Sunagakure,” she said randomly. Sasuke raised a brow at her in question. Her cheeks seemed to grow a little pink as she quietly admitted, “I’ll be able to compete and be promoted then.”

Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly. He’d forgotten that she was still a genin. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something, so he shrugged. “So what if you don’t have the jacket? You’re definitely stronger than a chunin and even a few of the jounin,” Sasuke offered and kept his gaze on the night sky.

She seemed to bolster at his words before saying, “Yeah. I've gotten pretty strong, 'ttebayo! But they’re still going to make me take the test. Something about paperwork or whatever.”

“Hn.”

Once again, there was a lull in conversation. He could hear their mothers laughing inside and the sounds of crickets filling the air. He almost missed it, but he picked up the sound of a window upstairs closing softly just before he spotted his brother land on the top of the wall surrounding the property. Itachi spared him a glance from over his shoulder before he leapt away and into the dark.

“Where’s he going?” Naruko asked a bit too loudly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He made sure to keep his voice down as he responded, “Shisui’s out of the village right now so he’s definitely going to see Izumi.”

“ _Eh_!?”

Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand and shot her a look. When it looked like she wasn’t going to alert their parents, he released her. “Your brother…sneaks out… to see a girl?” she asked as if the idea was completely foreign to her. And really, he didn’t blame her.

The idea of his stoic, older brother sneaking out to do whatever he did with Izumi that Sasuke refused to think about or to meet with Shisui at a bar downtown was ludicrous. Sasuke had first noticed that Itachi was sneaking out two years ago. When he’d actually caught his brother sneaking back into the house very early in the morning, Itachi had made him promise to keep it between them- a secret between brothers. Naturally, Sasuke had kept quiet. He’d even managed to cover for Itachi a few times. A part of him had felt bad about lying to his parents, but a much larger part of him had felt good about keeping Itachi’s secret.

“Sometimes he goes out drinking with Shisui. But yes, he does.”

Naruko’s jaw dropped. “But… but he doesn’t seem…”

“I told him to just move out, then he wouldn’t have to sneak out. But he knows that if he moves out, Tou-san would start pressuring him to get more involved in clan affairs and get married,” Sasuke explained. Naruko remained quiet as she digested the information.

Honestly, Sasuke wasn’t fond of the idea of Itachi moving out. He did want his brother to be happy. But a part of Sasuke was concerned about what would happen to him without Itachi around to act as the buffer between him and their father. Sasuke knew that he would have to learn how to deal with his father’s expectations eventually. He couldn’t have Itachi stand up for him forever.

“Do you drink?” Naruko whispered with hand around her mouth as she leaned towards him. She looked almost scandalized to be asking and Sasuke nearly laughed at her expression.

Sasuke shrugged. “A couple of times. It’s okay,” he replied casually. At the surprised look on her face, he rolled his eyes. “I went out with Itachi and Shisui once, but I usually go with Kakashi.”

“Do you go with Sakura-chan?” she asked softly.

Sasuke scoffed. “Sakura nagged us about the effects of alcohol poisoning on the body when we invited her out with us. It’s easier to not tell her if we go.”

“Would you go with me?” she asked this time.

He shrugged again. Why not? “As long as you can hold your liquor,” Sasuke challenged with a smirk. He watched her cheeks redden slightly as she blinked at him before glaring. She snorted at him while looking away, spewing boasts about how she was sure that if he could do it, she could do it with no problem. Sasuke turned back to the night sky and leaned back on his palms. He let the sound of her voice wash over him, not really listening to what she was saying. Despite how animated and quickly she spoke, Sasuke felt himself relaxing. It was nice to have her chatter in the background of his life again.

“Oi! Teme! Are you even listening to me!?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say that this chapter took FOREVER to finish. I really hope that you guys enjoy it. And if you do or don't, please leave a comment and let me know how you felt. I accept cash rewards and compliments. Criticism is okay, too I guess.

Sasuke had been in the middle of breakfast when he’d gotten the urgent summons to appear before the Hokage. His mother had picked up his dishes as he had abruptly left the table and slipped on his shoes. When he arrived at the Hokage Tower, Sasuke spotted Kakashi slipping in through an open window. If Kakashi was called and he actually bothered to show up on time, then this had to be serious. Slipping in after Kakashi, Sasuke kept the surprise from showing when he spotted Sakura and Naruko already standing in front of the Yondaime. Sasuke took his place next to Kakashi and waited for the Yondaime to begin. 

“We have just received intelligence that the Kazekage’s youngest son has just been taken by members of the Akatsuki organization,” the Yondaime said with a stern voice. It had come out as a soft whisper, but Sasuke had heard the, “ _Gaara_ ” that Naruko had uttered with an intense amount of emotion behind it. Sasuke had wanted to turn to her in question but refrained. How was she so familiar with the Kazekage’s son to call him by name? 

“We have more knowledge on the Akatsuki and its members so Sunagakure has requested our assistance in dealing with this threat. Your mission will be to head to Sunagakure immediately and provide back up. Additionally, you are to report back on the situation there,” Minato said and offered a scroll to Kakashi. 

Sasuke hadn’t heard of the Akatsuki before and judging by the expression on Sakura’s face, neither had she. But Naruko looked grave and… furious. Her fists were clenched by her sides and she was glaring at the floors as if she meant to set them ablaze. When Sasuke looked back at Kakashi, even he looked quite serious. 

“Naruko, stay behind for a few minutes. The rest of you are dismissed,” the Yondaime said and locked eyes with his daughter. She stiffened under her father’s intense stare and remained in place while the others started to leave. Sasuke spared the two another glance before following Kakashi out. 

Once the door had closed behind them, Kakashi said, “Pack for enough for a weeklong trip. I doubt we’ll get much time to rest, however. We’ll leave from the main gate in thirty minutes.” 

~:~ 

From the moment they had left the village, Naruko had been tense and far too quiet. On more than one occasion, Sakura had to remind her not to break formation when she suddenly started to pick up speed. Impatience was one of Naruko’s defining traits, but her rush was more than that. It was almost desperate. Sasuke frowned. 

“ _Naruko,”_ Sakura chastised again. 

Naruko stopped on a branch farther ahead with a frown. “Kakashi-nii, can’t we go any faster?” she asked with an impatient groan. 

“What’s your rush? I get it that the Kazekage’s family is important-” Sakura started to argue but Naruko was quick to cut her off. 

“It’s not just that. It’s _Gaara,_ ” Naruko stressed as if that explained everything. She frowned and clenched her fists. She started jumping from branch to branch again, but kept speaking, “He’s my friend. After I left the village with Ero Sennin, we went to Suna because he was supposed to help them with some seal stuff. That’s when I met Gaara. He was so _angry_ and _lonely_. I made a promise to him that he could always count on me as his friend and I don’t _ever_ want to go back on my word.” 

Sasuke almost didn’t recognize her. He could remember the little girl who shouted about becoming the Hokage and declared her nindo at the top of her lungs. Back then, it had always sounded like a promise of a child. But the conviction in her voice and the fire in her eyes was much deeper now. It hit Sasuke just how much she had grown these past three years. She wasn’t a little kid anymore. In a way, Sasuke could see small glimpses of the woman she would one day become. 

After her rousing speech, they picked up their pace with a new sense of urgency. 

~:~ 

Sasuke had kept an eye on Naruko all day and something was nagging at him. It wasn’t just Naruko. Kakashi had been acting off as well. Sasuke hadn’t expected Sakura to pick up on it, but Sasuke was more than familiar with Kakashi’s mannerisms. He knew how to pick up on his former sensei’s tells and right now Kakashi was worried and stressed. He hid it decently enough, but he slipped up whenever he looked at Naruko. They knew something that they weren’t sharing. 

Later that night, Sasuke stared at Naruko from across the fire. She was the last scheduled to keep watch, but she hadn’t moved to go to sleep. Sasuke frowned. “Go to sleep, Usuratonkachi.” 

“I’m fine,” she stubbornly insisted and continued to frown at the fire. 

Sasuke barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “You’ll be no help when we get there if you’re tired,” he tried again. When she didn’t respond to him, Sasuke sighed softly. Sparing Kakashi and Sakura’s unmoving forms a quick glance, Sasuke got up and moved to sit beside her. She barely acknowledged him. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked, keeping his voice low. Arguably not the nicest way to show his concern, but at least he was trying. 

“It’s nothing, ‘ttebayo.” 

Sasuke gave her a dubious look. “You want to save your friend, but there’s more to it than that,” Sasuke pointed out. 

It took a few minutes, but she eventually did start talking. “You’re right. Gaara is more than just the Kazekage’s son,” she said and gripped the fabric of her pants tightly. “Gaara is the jinchuuriki of the ichibi.” 

Sasuke frowned in confusion. He’d never heard of a jinchuuriki before. He watched her tuck her knees under her chin as she continued to speak in a soft voice, “Jinchuuriki are human containers for the tailed beast sealed inside them. Jinchuuriki are supposed to be used as weapons during times of war.” 

Her eyes took on a hard edge as she glared down at the fire. “The Akatsuki are the ones who took Gaara. They don’t even care about him. They just took him for the tailed beast inside of him. They’re going to take it out of him and that _can’t happen._ If you remove the tailed beast, then the jinchuuriki will die,” she stressed with an imploring look. 

Sparing a glance across the fire, Sasuke could see that Kakashi was staring at Naruko with a carefully blank look in his eye. Even Sakura had sat up from her bedroll and was giving Naruko her undivided attention. 

Sasuke had never heard any of this before. “How do you know all this?” he asked. Was this what the Yondaime had kept her behind for? Had he relayed the full scope of Gaara’s situation to her? 

“Because I’m a jinchuuriki, too,” she admitted. His eyes widened slightly. “I have only half of the kyuubi’s chakra, but it still counts.” 

“Ne, Naruko… Then those people, the Akatsuki…” Sakura trailed off with a worried voice. 

“Ah. They’ll come for me too one day, ‘ttebayo.” 

Sasuke felt his heart clench. “How long have you known?” Sasuke asked, not sure what he wanted to hear her say. 

“I’ve known for years. I’ve been a jinchuuriki since the day I was born,” she said and seemed to shrink in on herself. Sakura’s eyes had widened, but she didn’t speak. Sasuke stared at the fire dancing in front of him as he tried to collect his thoughts. 

“When I was first learning how to use the kyuubi chakra, some people were giving Tou-chan a hard time. They didn’t want me practicing inside the village just in case I lost control or the seal broke. So, he let me leave the village with Ero Sennin,” Naruko explained. 

“They made you go away?” Sasuke said, his voice unnaturally cold. 

“There was some residual fear from the kyuubi getting loose sixteen years ago, particularly amongst the civilian population. The village elders were adamant, especially because we lost the Sandaime during the destruction,” Kakashi explained in a blank tone. “Minato-sensei was only willing to let her leave because she would be safe enough with Jiraiya-sama.” 

Sasuke felt irritation and anger bubble up and rush through him. She could have been in the village with them the whole time. The village was her home, but they’d still turned their backs on her because they feared the kyuubi. ‘ _Idiots_.’ 

“Naruko, why didn’t you tell us before?” Sakura asked. 

“The identity of the jinchuuriki is kept an S-rank secret. If the information were to get out, it would put them and the village at risk,” Kakashi explained. 

Naruko frowned at Sakura apologetically. “Tou-chan is letting me decide who I tell, though. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before. I didn’t want you to see me differently or hate me for it.” 

Sasuke frowned. Hate her? If what she said was true, it’s not like she made the decision to become a jinchuuriki. Besides, what did being a jinchuuriki _really_ change about her? Did it _have_ to change anything? “Hn,” Sasuke scoffed. 

When she turned to look at him, she looked so vulnerable. Like the next words out of his mouth could break her. She tried to hide it, but her eyes had always been an open book to him. 

He’d never been good with words. Some emotions were easy to express, like anger or disgust. But some emotions, like the ones welling up in his chest at her wide, blue gaze, were harder for him to put into words. Before he could stick his foot in his mouth, he acted. His hand shot out, his fingers poking at the middle of her forehead and leaving a bright red mark behind. She protested loudly and rubbed at her head. 

The words felt easier to get out now. So, before she could yell at him for the abuse to her forehead, he said, “Dobe. You were a loser when I met you and you’re still a loser now.” 

Like he said, he was _trying_. 

Surprisingly, she wasn’t yelling at him. If anything, she seemed pleased by his words. With a hand still rubbing her forehead, she smiled brightly at up him. He felt his heart pound- once, twice- in his chest before settling into a slightly elevated rhythm. Thankfully hidden away by his bangs, Sasuke could feel his ears start to warm. “Teme,” she said, sounding almost fond. 

“Mah, mah. I think we should get some rest while we can. We’re setting out again at dawn,” Kakashi said and settled in against the tree behind him. Sakura shot Sasuke a knowing look from across the fire while adjusting her covers. Sasuke glared at her, but she ignored it and settled back down for bed. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Naruko pulled out her bedroll and was settling in, more at peace than he’d seen her in hours. 

Sasuke wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he’d pestered Naruko to talk about her problems. But this was far worse than anything he could have imagined. She gave him another small smile before closing her eyes and trying to sleep. There were people _hunting_ her. People who would one day try to take her away and kill her. Sasuke frowned deeply. _‘Over my dead body.’_

~:~ 

If Sasuke were superstitious, he would have taken their smooth journey as a sign of good fortune for the rest of the mission. They had even managed to arrive a day early thanks to Naruko setting a slightly brutal pace. When they had arrived, Sasuke had been surprised to see the village still intact. He had assumed that an organization that hunted jinchuuriki would leave behind devastation in their wake, but the village seemed untouched and peaceful. 

Inside the Kage Tower was a mad house, however. There were shinobi moving about quickly, busy with handling the fallout of the attack behind closed doors. A tall man with half his face hidden by a turban stood with a shorter girl with four, blonde pigtails. As soon as she spotted them, Naruko dashed ahead and shouted, “Temari!” 

“Naruko, you’re early,” the girl said in surprise. 

“We couldn’t waste time! Not with Gaara…” Naruko trailed off. 

Temari frowned deeply. “We have a tracking team out looking for him now, but we haven’t heard back yet. I’d be out there myself, but with Kankuro down and my father gone,” Temari hinted. 

“The Kazekage?” Kakashi asked in surprise. 

“It is not public knowledge. Early this morning, Kazekage-sama succumbed to his injuries from his fight with those Akatsuki members,” the tall man said. 

Damn. They were too late. Sasuke’s eyes slid over to Sakura to see her frowning deeply. Her posture was stiff and tense. Sasuke could see an emotion swirling around in her eyes, but before he could decipher it, she stood at attention and leveled a look at Temari. “You said that someone was injured. Are they the only one?” she asked. 

“My brother was poisoned when he left to follow the one who had taken Gaara. We’ve tried everything to cure him, but we haven’t had much luck,” Temari answered. 

Sakura nodded. “I’m a medic. Show him to me. I’ll get started right away.” 

Sasuke had seen Sakura go into full medic mode a few times in the past. He was always a little impressed by the sight. She was completely in the zone, going through the motions and handling a million things at once. He’d seen her wrangle an entire operating room with just a few words. Despite being the youngest in the room, she could have an entire team looking to her for guidance. Sasuke stood with Kakashi and Naruko outside the hospital room, just watching as Sakura took control and organized the Suna-nin as if she had been doing it all her life. 

“Sakura-chan is pretty awesome,” Naruko marveled softly. 

Sasuke looked down at Naruko from the side of his eyes. “She’s trained hard these past few years,” he acknowledged. 

~:~ 

There was nothing they could do until Kakashi’s summons picked up Sasori’s trail. Sasori of the Red Sand. Sasuke was vaguely familiar with his reputation. Skimming through his bingo book, Sasuke located the man’s entry. Sasuke wasn’t sure what to make of the two pictures accompanying Sasori’s entry. Sasori was an S-rank missing-nin known for using puppets and unique poisons. Sasuke frowned. He’d managed to take down the Kazekage on his own while his partner had fought Gaara alone. Were all the Akatsuki members as powerful? They’d have to be if they were kidnapping and killing jinchuuriki. 

“Oi! Sasuke!” 

Sasuke looked over to see Naruko standing in the doorway to the room he would be sharing with Kakashi. “There you are. I was looking for you, ‘ttebayo,” she said and stepped in. 

“Did the ninken find something?” 

She frowned. “Not yet,” Naruko said and came over to him. Without his permission, she flopped down onto his bed with a loud exhale. Sasuke scooted over to make room for her. “Sakura-chan is busy working on an antidote for Kankuro and Kakashi-nii is sending a report back to Konoha. What are you doing?” she said and stared up at the ceiling. He showed her Sasori’s bingo book entry. 

He watched her expression carefully. The more she read, the deeper her frown became. He could see the anger simmering in her eyes as she stared at the page. “This is one of the guys who has Gaara.” 

“He’s one of them that’s after you,” Sasuke pointed out. 

“I’ll get him back. I’ll beat this Sasori bastard and get Gaara back,” she promised and put the book away. 

Sasuke stared down at her for a few seconds before settling back against the wall. “He’s important to you,” Sasuke said with a neutral tone. Sasuke had never met this Gaara person and he couldn’t help but wonder what he was like. What kind of person could be so important to her? 

“I told you that he’s like me. He’s a jinchuuriki, too. But it’s more than that. He’s like me, but he isn’t,” she said and sat up to sit next to him. “They treated him like a monster here. It made me feel…sad for him. We both had a monster inside us, but he got the short stick. I could have had his life.” 

“The Yondaime wouldn’t have let that happen.” 

“When I first met him, he didn’t have anybody. He didn’t have a mother and his father was a real bastard. Gaara wasn’t even close to his siblings,” Naruko said and clenched her hands. “I’ve always had people who cared. I couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to not have anyone. That’s when I decided that I would be there for him. _Always._ I don’t want him to ever feel lonely again.” 

Sasuke didn’t care to imagine what his life would have been like if he’d had to grow up alone. He didn’t have many bonds, but he did cherish the ones that he did have. 

Sasuke looked down at Naruko and sighed. She was such a bleeding heart. She had an innate ability to connect with people in a way he’d never understand. Even when they were young, she had a knack for drawing others into her orbit. She had always made herself the center of attention, like a bright light for everyone around to draw warmth from- miniaturized sunshine. And he’d been drawn in like a moth to a flame. 

He could still remember how it felt to have her attention on him. He was by no means starved for attention as a child, but there had been times when he’d wished to have more of his father’s or brother’s time. He always had his mother, but he’d still wanted just a little more. 

He’d gotten attention and praise from adults, but those had always felt like backhanded compliments. Whenever his accomplishments had been praised, it had always been followed up by a comparison to Itachi. “ _Keep doing well, Sasuke. Just like Itachi._ ” The other children in his class had either envied him or admired him, but even then, the admiration had felt hollow. If he had been born hideous and into a civilian family, he doubted that he would have had any fangirls. 

But then Naruko had blown into his life and practically burned him with her intensity. She had stared at him, up close and personal on more than one occasion. Whenever he spoke, he could always count on her to give him a reaction. In a way, it had felt like she couldn’t ignore him just as he couldn’t ignore her. She’d never bother to show anyone else that kind of undivided attention. Of course, she’d been yelling and insulting him, but still. He hadn’t been too kind to her either. 

“What are you thinking so hard about?” 

“How much of a sentimental fool you are,” he said and pulled a knee to his chest. 

“Teme,” she fired back without any heat. He felt her head come down to rest on his shoulder, but he didn’t feel the urge to shrug her off. His muscles relaxed on their own, his eyes sliding shut of their own accord. Soon, they would have to head out and face dangerous shinobi, but for now he’d relax. 

~:~ 

Early the next morning, Pakuun had leapt in through the open window with a loud bark. Sasuke had immediately snapped to attention in time to see Kakashi pulling a map from his pack and laying it out for Pakuun. Sasuke moved in closer to observe the small pug pace around the map and grumble lowly. “The trail ended… about here. Behind a gate and boulder next to a river,” Pakuun said and rested his paw on the map. 

“Thanks, Pakuun,” Kakashi said and offered the small pug a treat from his pack. Pakuun noisily ate the treat before giving Sasuke a salute with his paw and disappearing in a puff of smoke. “Wake the girls. We’ll leave immediately,” Kakashi ordered and grabbed his clothes to change. 

Sakura had answered the door, only mildly embarrassed to be seen with bedhead and still in her pajamas. But she had sobered up quickly when he had relayed Kakashi’s message, quickly dashing back into the room and throwing a pillow at Naruko’s snoring form. “Naruko! Get up!” Sakura shouted at the blonde. Sasuke left them alone to get ready, returning to his room to prepare. 

In the time it had taken for Sasuke to get ready, Kakashi had already informed the Suna-nin of the situation. Sasuke had been expecting a team of Suna-nin to join them in the search for Gaara but was disappointed to see that only one elderly lady would be joining them. Sasuke could understand the need to defend the village at the time when its most vulnerable, but really? He must have shown his skepticism on his face because the old woman was quick to give him a side-eyed glare. “In all my years, I’ve never met a humble Uchiha. You shouldn’t underestimate others nor overestimate yourself,” she chided. 

Sasuke’s gaze narrowed. “There’s no need for humility when you’re sure of your own skill. Frankly, I couldn’t care less for others’ opinions of me,” Sasuke said while looking down on the old woman. He could feel Kakashi’s exasperation but chose not to acknowledge it. Both Kakashi and Itachi had tried to drill some humility into him, but Sasuke hadn’t bothered with those lessons. He was an Uchiha and he’d been raised as such. Sasuke would always remember one of the few lessons his father had passed on to him. 

“ _You cannot hold your head high_ _if_ _you roll over on your back.”_

“Sasuke-kun, you should be more respectful to your elders,” Sakura chided with a displeased frown. Sasuke chose to ignore her lest they start an argument. She was always nagging him about respecting his elders ever since she’d heard about how he’d first addressed Tsunade. He didn’t see the issue. In the end, Tsunade hadn’t minded that he’d spoken his mind. 

“Yare yare,” Kakashi sighed. “Let’s just head out.” 

Kakashi took point while Sasuke and Sakura took the rear. Sasuke wasn’t oblivious to the possibility that they could be heading right into a trap. At most, two members of the Akatsuki had attacked Sunagakure. But it was a very real possibility that they had taken Gaara to a nearby safehouse that housed far more members. Their goal was to retrieve Gaara (if he was even still alive), but Sasuke was hesitant to get into a confrontation with an entire base worth of S-rank ninja. 

Although, Sasuke was sure that that wouldn’t stop Naruko. His gaze slid onto her back, his eyes catching on her blonde pigtails that trailed behind her. If it came to the point where they had to retreat before they retrieved Gaara, he was sure that she’d rather die. Sasuke frowned. If he had to knock her out and drag her away… 

Feeling eyes on him, Sasuke looked over at Sakura. She had worry in her green eyes. Her gaze quickly shifted to Naruko before returning to him. Sasuke nodded once. He understood that Sakura was worried for Naruko’s safety. Subtly, Sasuke weaved the hand sign for “protect” at her. Sakura’s gaze hardened and she returned the sign with a nod. They would try to complete the mission, but they had to keep their priorities in order. 

“ _Those_ _that_ _break the rules_ _are_ _scum. But_ _those that abandon their_ _friend_ _s are worse than scum.”_

Eventually, Kakashi raised his hand to signal for them to slow their approach. They jumped down from the trees with silent steps and moved into the shade of the trees around them. When Sasuke looked down over the edge of the cliff, he recognized the gate and river that Pakuun had mentioned. The boulder was there but was raised to reveal an opening in the side of the opposite cliff. 

“Let’s go, ‘ttebayo,” Naruko stressed and started to move. 

“ _Naruko_ ,” Kakashi admonished in his Sensei Voice. Even after years away, Naruko still froze in place at the tone. “We can’t rule out the possibility that this may be a trap.” 

“Or they could have left. We have to at least check if Gaara’s in there,” Naruko said and weaved the hand signs for shadow clones. She summoned three clones that immediately dashed away. 

Sharingan active, Sasuke watched as two clones remained hidden outside and one clone stormed into the cave with a loud cry. If he strained his ears, Sasuke could almost make out the ranting and raving of the Naruto clone inside the cave. One of the clones outside the cave popped and Naruko stilled. “Gaara’s in there. There’s only two of them, that Sasori guy and a blonde guy,” Naruko said and tensed. The other clone popped. “…Gaara’s not moving. He’s laying there and he’s _not moving_ ,” Naruko growled and glared down at the cave. 

Sasuke could feel her chakra swirling around her, making her jacket float on some imaginary breeze. The chakra he felt coming from her was different than normal- heavier and darker. Catching Kakashi’s eye, Sasuke moved closer to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. When she looked at him, he did his best to keep his surprise hidden. The whisker marks on her cheeks had darkened, becoming more pronounced. He could see hints of fangs she was sporting behind a deep snarl. Her bright blue eyes were now a less vibrant violet. Before he could say anything to calm her, he heard an explosion come from the cave. 

“They’re moving!” she shouted and shook off his hold. 

“Naruko!” Kakashi shouted after her before jumping. As they were approaching the cave entrance, a large white bird flew out with a one-armed man standing on its back. 

“Gaara!” 

“I’ll leave the rest to you Sasori, my man!” the man atop the bird said with a laugh. Sasuke turned back towards the cave to see Sasori of the Red Sand crouched in the cave. 

“Get _back_ here! Give Gaara back!” 

Within seconds, their entire mission had dissolved. Sasuke watched Naruko run down the the river after the white bird without a backwards glance. Sasuke tried to call her back, but he knew it was a lost cause. Without a second thought, Sasuke followed after her. Kakashi would definitely lecture him for acting impetuously, but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. He wasn’t about to let her go off on her own. 

“I only wanted the jinchuuriki, but I have no problem taking out a few tagalongs, un,” the blonde man shouted and shoved his hand into a pouch at his side. When he pulled it out, he held a clump of a white substance that he squished into a white bird. As he tossed it over his shoulder, he shouted, “Katsu!” and weaved a single, hand sign. 

Sasuke wasn’t sure if the explosion was really meant to kill them. It had been too easy to slip past the blast with a burst of chakra to his feet. Was he just toying with them? 

Sasuke sensed Kakashi’s presence before he saw him. Once he had caught up, Sasuke could see that Kakashi had already raised his headband to expose his sharingan. “Sakura?” Sasuke asked. 

“She and Chiyo-san are handling Sasori,” Kakashi answered and stared up at the bird flying above them. “What do you see?” Kakashi asked. 

Staring up at the bird, Sasuke tried to determine what kind of jutsu he was using. “His headband is from Iwagakure. Some kind of earth style jutsu?” Sasuke theorized. This time, a shower of small, white spiders rained down on them. With a narrowed gaze, Sasuke gathered lightning in his palm. ‘ _Chidori_ _Senbon_ _.’_

When the creatures didn’t explode, Sasuke shot Kakashi a look. An earth style jutsu that they could easily counter with their lightning. “Can you stall him and keep an eye on Naruko? I need a minute to prepare my jutsu,” Kakashi asked and stared up at the bird. 

For months now, Kakashi had been training with Shisui to gain a better mastery of his sharingan. Sasuke was a bit vague on the specifics, but he knew that Kakashi had been trying to master a new sharingan. When he’d asked, Shisui had told him that he was better off not knowing. To have _that_ eye was more of a curse than a blessing, according to him. 

“You’re pretty weird for a jinchuuriki, un! We’ve already killed two jinchuuriki before, but no one came chasing after them. Most people were glad to have them gone,” the man shouted down at them. 

“You bastard!” Naruko shouted up at him before quickly gaining a burst of speed. Sasuke could have cursed. Quickly going through the hand signs, Sasuke breathed a fire ball directly in the bird’s path. As expected, the man slowed in order to avoid the hit. 

“Where are you aiming, un? You should get your eyes checked!” 

Capitalizing on the man’s distracted state, Sasuke sped up to close in on Naruko. Before he could say anything to hopefully calm her down, the man started shouting again. 

“Is this the best you Konoha-nin have to offer? I think I’d feel insulted if I had to have this sorry excuse for a rescue party, un!” the man yelled and tossed down some more explosives. Before Naruko could dash ahead again, Sasuke grabbed her from behind and shushined farther ahead to avoid the blast. 

“Sasuke!” Kakashi called out at last. As soon as his feet touched down onto one of the logs spanning the width of the gap, Sasuke started flying through hand signs. ‘ _Katon_ _:_ _Ryuuen_ _Houka_ _no_ _jutsu_ _!_ ’ 

Several dragon-headed fireballs shot out from his mouth and surrounded the front, left and right sides of the bird. The man suddenly came to a stop mid-air with a shout of outrage. Trapped on most sides, he made an easy target for Kakashi. Sasuke watched as Kakashi’s chakra peaked and his sharingan changed. The three tomoe pattern shifted and morphed into a red and black pinwheel shape. Looking to the man flying above, Sasuke felt his eyes widen. He watched as a vortex formed in the man’s chest, distorting his form. The man was crying out in confusion but was unable to escape the pull of the vortex. 

Sasuke almost cursed in awe. The man’s torso had disappeared now, sucked through the vortex. A jutsu like _this_ was a curse? Sasuke was ready to call bullshit, but the sound of Kakashi’s pained grunt snapped him out of his daze. Just as Kakashi lapsed and slipped from his log, Sasuke shot out after him. With his arms soundly around Kakashi’s mid-section, Sasuke jumped back up to the top of the cliff. Kakashi was panting harshly, his hand cradling his sharingan. Sasuke looked up again, just long enough to see the bird falling out of the sky with a pair of legs leaking blood and entrails down its side. 

“Gaara!” Naruko was shouting. She spared Sasuke and Kakashi a glance before taking off after the bird. 

“Can you walk?” Sasuke asked. Kakashi didn’t speak and tried to stand instead. It took a few seconds for him to get onto his feet, but his legs were even faster to give out beneath him. “Hn,” Sasuke grunted and pulled Kakashi’s arm over his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around Kakashi’s waist, Sasuke started leaping in the direction that the bird had gone down. 

They hadn’t gotten that close, but Sasuke could already hear Naruko’s anguished cries. He approached slowly, feeling an sense of regret settle into him with each step. When he finally saw her through the trees, she was kneeling on the ground with a red-haired boy clutched in her arms. She was crying out for the boy to _please_ wake up and soaking through his shirt with her messy tears. Kakashi hung his head with a soft sigh. Sasuke slowly lowered Kakashi to the ground before walking over to her. She was shaking and sniffling loudly, hiccupping too much to plead with the boy anymore. Sasuke rested a hand to her shoulder, not sure what to say to comfort her. Even if he had known what he could say, the teary gaze she gave him made all sound die in his throat. 

“I failed,” she told him in a small voice. 

Sasuke kneeled at her side. “No. We all did,” he corrected. The least he could do was help her carry her burden. 

He didn’t know this boy. He’d never even seen his face before, but Sasuke felt an overwhelming sadness deep within his chest. Every one of her sniffles seemed to stab at his heart, leaving an achy, hollow feeling behind. He shouldn’t feel this deeply for a boy he didn’t know. 

“I _promised_ ,” she said, her voice breaking on the word. 

“I know,” he replied and pulled her towards him with an arm around her shoulder. She rested Gaara’s body at her knees, staring down at him with the most defeated look he’d ever seen from her. None of them spoke, deciding to have a moment of silence for the boy. 

“ _My h_ _ow you’ve grown, Kakashi-_ _kun_ _.”_

Sasuke tensed at the sound of a raspy voice surrounding them. He turned back towards Kakashi but couldn’t see anyone near him. Kakashi, however, had frozen on the spot, his eyes going wide. 

“ _Y_ _our_ _eye_ _has gained some new abilities_ _,_ _ku_ _ku_ _ku_ _…”_

Sasuke stood slowly, his fingers drawing a kunai. His eyes scanned the tree line, trying pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. 

“ _Orochimaru_ ,” Kakashi said in a low voice, almost sounding like a growl. His entire body was tense where he crouched, both eyes vigilant. Sasuke heard a light laugh fade away softly, as if the person had decided to leave. But he could still _feel_ it- an overwhelming presence. Whoever they were, they had a thick, oppressive chakra that felt wrong in every sense of the word. It felt tainted and poisoned, but no less strong and large. An eerie silence had set in, making Sasuke go tense. 

“Kakashi-nii!” 

Sasuke turned back to Kakashi just in time to see the man get struck from behind with a swift chop to the back of his head. With a pained grunt, Kakashi’s eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground. Sasuke gripped his kunai tighter as he eyed the newcomer. He had very pale skin, slitted golden eyes and straight waist-length black hair. Like Sasori and his now dead partner, this _Orochimaru_ was wearing a black cloak with red clouds. The man smirked at him before turning over Kakashi’s limp body with his foot. 

“Leave him alone!” Naruko shouted and stood, a kunai drawn. 

Sasuke felt the man’s tainted chakra slide over him and he resisted the urge to cringe. Either Naruko was impervious to Orochimaru’s chakra, or she was too upset to care. Orochimaru observed her for a few seconds and smirked. “The kyuubi jinchuuriki. Or should I say one of them?” Orochimaru said in that raspy hiss of his. Naruko tensed and sneered at the man. 

“Capturing you was Sasori and Deidara’s job, but it looks like they failed,” Orochimaru said and glanced over at the fallen bird and the disembodied legs. “I have no business with you, girl. I’ve come for a more valuable prize.” 

When Orochimaru reached a hand towards Kakashi again, Sasuke threw his kunai at the man’s face. With unnaturally smooth movements, Orochimaru dodged the attack and took a step back from Kakashi’s body. “I thought all of the Uchiha looked down on their precious eyes being in the possession of anyone outside the clan,” Orochimaru said and leveled a dark look at Sasuke. “I haven’t come for you either, hatchling Uchiha. But if you wish to donate your eyes, I will not object.” 

The mildly oppressive chakra suddenly amplified, weighing down on him and causing his muscles to lock in place. Sasuke could feel a cold sweat gathering on the back of his neck, his stomach rolling in his gut and making him nauseous. He’d never felt Killing Intent this potent before. The pure, raw bloodlust had his head reeling. He barely held back the tremble that was threatening to overtake his limbs. Orochimaru grinned knowingly at him. 

He had to escape. Could he make it to Kakashi’s body in time? Would he have enough time to grab Naruko and Kakashi and escape? He doubted it. He didn’t want to abandon Kakashi, but that wouldn’t be an issue when he couldn’t even get his body to _move!_ Orochimaru’s long tongue slipped out of his mouth and licked at his lips. In the back of his mind, Sasuke registered the disgust he felt beneath the pure, unadulterated terror. 

“Teme,” Naruko’s voice called out to him just before he felt her hand clap his cheek. He felt her chakra flow through him, filling him and chasing away the chill that had taken hold. He gasped. “Genjutsu?” she asked in a concerned voice. His blinked down at her before he turned back to Orochimaru. 

“Oi! Knock it off with your crappy mind tricks!” she shouted and pointed her kunai at Orochimaru. Orochimaru stared at her in slight confusion. 

Sasuke almost hugged her. It hadn’t been a genjutsu that had him so entranced, but her chakra had still pulled him out of it. He could feel Orochimaru’s chakra roiling around him, but he focused on the bright beacon that was Naruko’s chakra instead. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke gathered chakra behind his eyes and refocused on Orochimaru. 

“You wish to challenge me? Come then,” Orochimaru grinned and gestured his arms wide. 

“We’ll take you on and kick your ass!” Naruko proclaimed. “You and every one of you Akatsuki bastards!” she shouted and summoned some clones. 

Since she’d been back in the village, they’d only sparred together. He hadn’t yet gotten a chance to fight alongside her. Before she’d left, their teamwork had been pretty decent. They were able to communicate battle plans and strategies with only a few subtle hints. But even then, their fighting styles and approaches had been so vastly different. Opportunities for teamwork had been short and rarely requiring them to work so closely against a foe for too long. So Sasuke was slightly concerned about how her more direct and frenetic style would work with his more calculated and fluid one. 

Turns out, he hadn’t needed to be worried. With his sharingan giving him perfect clarity and foresight, it was easy for him to move between her many clones. It was almost as if every clone moved with him in mind, making space for him to strike and moving in the way to take a hit for him. But despite their seamless teamwork, Orochimaru was matching their moves with minimal effort. Sasuke glared and jumped back to gain some distance. As one, four Naruko clones latched onto Orochimaru’s limbs and held him still. Gathering lightning in his palm, Sasuke rushed Orochimaru and shot his hand out at the man’s chest. 

Hand still sparking, Sasuke stared into Orochimaru’s slitted eyes. The man’s eyes were glazed over, and his body went limp in the clones’ arms. Sasuke pulled his hand from Orochimaru’s chest with a squelch and let the body fall to the ground. A part of Sasuke was surprised that it ended so quickly. The feel of the man’s chakra had been so intense, Sasuke was sure that he’d have put up a decent fight. Sasuke felt almost disappointed and honestly a little embarrassed that he’d let someone so weak intimidate him. 

“I’m impressed. You’re quite skilled for a hatchling.” 

With wide eyes, Sasuke watched as Orochimaru’s body lurched and his mouth opened wide. Sasuke stepped back warily, watching in disgust as a pair of pale hands reached out from Orochimaru’s mouth. Then, like some kind of weird and backwards birthing scene, he watched Orochimaru crawl out of his own mouth. Sasuke could hear Naruko retching a little dramatically at his side. 

Still covered in saliva and who knows what else, Orochimaru stood and faced them. He put his thumb in his mouth and bit down hard enough to draw blood before sliding his bloody thumb over a tattoo on his forearm. “Kuchiyose no jutsu!” Orochimaru called out and slammed his hand to the ground. Out of the cloud of smoke, the largest snake Sasuke had ever seen appeared and hissed at them. Its body coiled between the trees looking at least one meter in diameter. From the top of the head that towered above the trees, Orochimaru chuckled lightly. 

Quick as a whip, the snake struck, its fangs gleaming and dripping with what could have been poison. By his quick estimates, Sasuke was sure that it was moving too fast for Naruko to fully pick up on. His body just moved, tackling her to the ground and out of the way. As soon as he’d rolled her far enough away, Sasuke was moving again. The sound of chirping birds filling the clearing almost drowned out Naruko’s voice calling out his name. The snake was already rearing back for a second strike as he changed the shape of his Chidori. Timing it perfectly, he waited until the snake was within his maximum five meters before he used his lightning spear to slice off the snake’s head. But before the snake had touched the ground, Orochimaru was attacking him with quick jabs and vicious strikes. 

“You keep impressing me, Sasuke-kun. I had come for Kakashi’s sharingan, but I can see a greater potential in yours,” Orochimaru praised. 

“You won’t be leaving here with either. That’s if you manage to leave at all,” Sasuke threatened. From behind Orochimaru, Sasuke watched two Naruko launch a sneak attack. 

“Rasengan!” 

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that there was something _off_ about Orochimaru. The man’s entire presence felt tainted, he was able to crawl out of his own body and shake off fatal injuries, and now he was dodging attacks like a literal snake. Sasuke blinked in shock just before he saw Orochimaru unhinge his jaw. Grabbing the back of Naruko’s jacket, he pulled her out of range of Orochimaru’s attack. 

“He can puke up snakes with swords?” Naruko asked in a disgusted tone. 

“ _Of course_ he can. Why wouldn’t he?” Sasuke gripped sarcastically. 

“He’s too fast. I can’t get a clean hit on him,” Naruko said. Sasuke watched Orochimaru lick his lips again, the long tongue dripping a viscous fluid onto the grass. It soaked into the ground, dissolving the grass with a hiss of smoke. ‘ _Poison_ _. And Sakura_ _’_ _s carrying all of_ _ou_ _r anti_ _dotes_ _._ _’_

Sasuke didn’t want to turn his back on the snake for a second, but Naruko’s words concerned him. She couldn’t hit Orochimaru and Sasuke had a feeling that the man was toying with them. Sasuke eyed where Naruko had tucked away Kakashi and Gaara’s bodies behind some bushes off to the side. Maybe they could make their way over to them and use her clones to escape? 

“Ku ku ku. I have to admit, I’ve managed to enjoy myself. But I’ve grown bored of games,” Orochimaru said and clapped his hands together. 

“Shit.” Sasuke couldn’t hold back the curse this time at the feel of Orochimaru gathering chakra. 

“Sasuke?” 

Glancing down at her, Sasuke could see the resolution in her eyes. She nodded once at him, a grim smile on her face. She must have been thinking along the same lines as him. He nodded back at her. “Follow my lead and try to keep up, Usuratonkachi.” 

Once again, Orochimaru unhinged his jaw and released a black miasma. From the dark mist, numerous snake bodies formed, each unhinging their jaws to release a sword of their own. Within seconds, the snakes had formed a wide sea of writhing bodies, all slithering towards them. He’d have to clear a path through this first. Sasuke frowned and started gathering enough chakra. ‘ _Katon_ _:_ _Gouenky_ _u_ _u_ _.’_

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke let the chakra build enough to fire a meteor-sized sphere of fire at Orochimaru and his sea of snakes. Sasuke could feel the intense heat pouring off the massive attack, but he didn’t hesitate to dash over to Kakashi’s body. Naruko was right on his tail, hoisting Gaara over her shoulder. Sasuke could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet despite the giant ball of fire exploding a mile away. Once Kakashi was hoisted onto his back, Sasuke took to the trees. 

It was a diversionary tactic at best. Sasuke wasn’t going to kid himself into thinking that that had been enough to kill Orochimaru. But if they could put enough distance between them and Orochimaru, then maybe they could make it back to Sakura and Chiyo in time. Sasuke just hoped that the women were still in a condition to fight if it came to that. 

That feeling of a cold chill running along the back of his neck was the first warning he got. Sasuke spared a glance behind him to see Orochimaru sliding in and out of view, moving his body along the tree branches like a snake. “Naruko!” he called out to her. When she spotted Orochimaru gaining on them, she cursed loudly. They wouldn’t be able to outrun him…not together at least. “Naruko, take Kakashi and go!” 

“What!?” 

She stared at him like he was talking nonsense. “Take Kakashi and get to Sakura. I’ll hold him off while you run,” he explained. 

“That’s the _stupidest_ plan you’ve ever come up with, Teme!” 

He could strangle her. Her life was more important than his and yet she was going to argue with him about this. “Naruko!” he chided her, trying to get her to be _reasonable_ for once. He was about to argue with her more, but he spotted Orochimaru lunging towards him in his peripheral vision. Channeling chakra to his legs, Sasuke avoided the lunge just in time. Orochimaru hadn’t lunged with his body. He’d elongated his neck and unhinged his jaw, his teeth sharpening into fangs. 

“Sasuke!” Naruko shouted at him as she leapt to his side. He let her take Kakashi from his back and almost breathed a sigh of relief. But then he noticed another Naruko rushing ahead with Gaara on her back while a third Naruko turned back to rush at Orochimaru. 

She was going to be the death of him one day. 

Making an about face, Sasuke rushed to catch up with her. If he could just grab her, he could knock her unconscious and run. Maybe he could summon a hawk to aid in their escape? Or he could try to put Orochimaru in a genjutsu? Anything was a better plan than whatever she was doing. 

“Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu!” 

Sasuke watched a sea of orange blondes form before partnering up. One clone held out her hand while the other started shaping the chakra. On his next landing, Sasuke stopped in place, his eyes seeking out the real Naruko. He didn’t have to search for long. The second the Naruko clones started bombarding Orochimaru with their Rasengans, one Naruko grabbed his hand and tugged him away. They couldn’t outrun him. Would they be able to hide and wait out Orochimaru? 

“Naruko, we need to hide. We won’t outrun him,” he told her. He pulled her to him before jumping down and slipping into the shadows. Quickly, he casted one of Itachi’s best genjutsu over them. He held her him, trying his best to control his breathing and heart rate. She was kneeling between his legs, remaining completely still and barely breathing. Sasuke focused his hearing outward, peering around the tree trunk they were hiding behind. He couldn’t hear anything, not a peep from the forest around them. He was sure that the woodland animals would have long since been scared away by their fight and the fire he’d started. At least it would be easier to hear Orochimaru coming. 

“Sas-” 

Before she could finish speaking, Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand. The genjutsu he’d casted should prevent anyone from detecting them by sight, sound, or smell. But he didn’t want to risk it. He’d wait until he was sure that Orochimaru had moved on to another part of the forest. Hopefully, he wouldn’t follow the trail the two clones had left behind. They’d averted one problem only to potentially create another one. When he felt Naruko suddenly tense and start to shift away from him, he shot her a warning look. The smaller the space he influenced, the easier it was to disguise. 

He’d spotted the shiny glint of metal less than a second too late. His body made a sort of aborted movement as his eyes opened wide. Orochimaru was wrapped around a tree branch above them, his neck elongating down to put him at about eye level. That damned sword of his was jutting out of his mouth and right through her chest. Sasuke could see the end of the sword poised at his own heart, the edge leaking that viscous poison onto his clothes. Orochimaru chuckled lightly again, slowly withdrawing the sword from her body. As the sword left her with a squelch, she coughed once, a small spatter of blood hitting him in the face. His eyes burned the image of her falling over in a bloody heap into his brain. 

He stared down at her still form, watching the grass beneath her and her orange jacket slowly stain red. He was frozen on the spot, watching her bleed out, his mind both frighteningly blank and yet full of static. When she coughed up a spot of blood, he finally managed to make his arms move. Gently, he rolled her over onto her back. 

What was he supposed to do first? Was he supposed to put pressure on a wound when it was this deep? But he had to do _something,_ or she’d bleed out! Maybe if he could keep pressure on it long enough, then Sakura could get here in time to heal her. He tried to keep constant pressure, but his hands were shaking. No, his entire body was shaking. His hands couldn’t find purchase in between her breasts, they kept slipping in her blood. 

“Sas…ke,” she tried to say but he glared down at her. 

“Shut up. Just don’t move,” he ordered. This wasn’t working. The front of her jacket was almost completely red. What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know any medical jutsu. He knew basic first aid, but he had no idea how to even _begin_ treating something like this. Where the hell was Sakura!? 

“Not...healing,” she croaked at him before coughing up another splatter of blood. 

“I said _stop talking_ , Usuratonkachi!” Sasuke shouted. He just needed to think. 

“Hm. The Uzumaki blood must be keeping her alive. My poison in a wound like that should have killed her by now,” Orochimaru remarked idly, as if he were noting the weather. 

Sasuke had wanted to shove his fist down Orochimaru’s throat, but he couldn’t take his hands off her chest. From where he was pressing, he could feel her heart’s faint flutters. He was so focused on his hands- his red, _red_ hands- that he hadn’t noticed her eyes closing. “Usuratonkachi,” he warned. When she didn’t acknowledge him, Sasuke tried to jostle her slightly. She still wasn’t opening her eyes. He could feel the light fluttering of her heart slowly peter out beneath his hands. 

He waited his bated breath, still hoping her heart would beat again. Would it help if he tried to get it to start beating? But the blade had gone right through. He could hear a small voice knowingly say that there was probably too much damage. It was pointless. 

It took a few seconds for him to get his body to move back. Sasuke stared, still waiting for something- _anything!-_ to happen. She was so still and deathly pale. His pants, her jacket, and his hands were soaked in her blood. When he touched her cheek, she still felt warm. He lowered his head when he felt the sting of tears gathering in his eyes. 

He did this. He was supposed to protect her and he’d failed. He’d failed _her_. He’d promised to protect her. He’d promised Sakura and Kakashi. He’d promised himself, but he’d still lost her. 

“Pity. Leader-sama will be annoyed with me that she died,” Orochimaru commented. 

Sasuke felt his body tense. ‘ _She died… She_ died?’ 

“She “died”? Not, “you killed her”?” Sasuke asked, his voice surprisingly level despite the lump in his throat. He’d never forget the sight of Orochimaru’s sword impaling her. His eyes were burning now. 

Orochimaru let out a humph but didn’t offer anything else. 

The burning behind his eyes was getting more intense. Taking a deep breath to calm the raging storm of emotions in his head, Sasuke let it everything except his anger go. Pushing himself to his feet, Sasuke faced Orochimaru again. “I’m going to kill you,” he promised in a cold tone. 

Orochimaru’s smug grin was the last push he didn’t know he needed. The burning in his eyes crescendoed as he felt the chakra gathering behind his eyes. The smug grin was fading, being replaced by a look of intrigue. Sasuke couldn’t find it in him to care what Orochimaru was thinking. Gathering lightning chakra in his hand, dashed forward. 

He saw Orochimaru’s counterattack coming ages before he got close. With one hand still sparking wildly, Sasuke engaged Orochimaru in taijutsu. The older man’s snakelike movements had been slightly challenging before. But now, Sasuke found his taijutsu changing to accommodate. He moved much more fluidly, utilizing newfound flexibility to dodge and land hits. When he spotted an opening, Sasuke didn’t hesitate. His hand sliced through Orochimaru’s chest, blood spurting and mixing with what was left on his hand of Naruko’s. Moving quickly, Sasuke landing a harsh kick to the side of Orochimaru’s neck. His attack had knocked Orochimaru sideways, sending him flying with a spray of blood and purple poison. Not underestimating Orochimaru’s ability to regenerate, Sasuke kept up his assault. 

Mid-air, Orochimaru slipped from his old body and turned back to face Sasuke. He grinned savagely before dropping his jaw and exhaling a thick cloud of purple gas. Sasuke froze in place, pouring more chakra into his eyes. If he could just _see,_ he could avoid the attack. Sasuke flinched when he felt a shooting pain in his left eye and what felt like tears flowing down his face again. His hand came up to cover the eye, but he tried to keep his right eye trained on the fight. 

Sasuke watched the purple gas suddenly catch fire, black flames mixing with the poison and halting it in its tracks. Sasuke wasn’t sure what kind of attack Orochimaru was planning, but when he glanced at the man, Orochimaru had stopped in surprise. The flames weren’t his then. 

Sasuke pulled his hand away from his eye and watched the entire cloud of gas burn away. Sasuke refocused on Orochimaru, pooling his chakra behind his eyes again. ‘ _Burn away,’_ Sasuke thought as he watched Orochimaru’s chest catch on fire. The man’s screams of pain were like music to his ears. 

“What _is_ this?” Orochimaru exclaimed in surprise. 

These black flames were a curious thing. Sasuke watched Orochimaru try to put them out with a water jutsu, but they remained. Orochimaru even tried to abandon his black cloak, but Sasuke was quick to set his arms aflame again. The black fire was spreading in response to his will, surrounding Orochimaru in a circle as tall as he was. Predictably, Sasuke felt Orochimaru’s gathering chakra to leave his body again. “Pathetic,” Sasuke sneered. 

Parting his flames without too much conscious effort, Sasuke stepped through and let his hand spark to life. Before Orochimaru could pull himself free of his burning corpse, Sasuke speared the man through his chest, pinning him to the ground beneath him. Sasuke let the chakra change shape into multiple spears that ripped at Orochimaru’s chest while jutting outward. 

“Sas…ke,” Orochimaru hissed, his snakelike eyes narrowed in outrage. 

“Amaterasu,” Sasuke had decided to dub the black flames. He watched the flames burn away at Orochimaru’s flesh, not taking his eyes away until he was sure that there was nothing left of the man to burn. Sasuke wasn’t sure how long he stood there watching, but eventually he took a deep breath and turned his face up to the sky. His eyes were burning and throbbing in his skull and he could feel exhaustion starting to set in. He stared at the smokey sky for a few seconds before walking back over to Naruko’s body. 

For a few beats, he just stared down at her. A chill was settling into his very being, sapping what little energy he had left. He fell to his knees at her side, cutting off the chakra to his eyes. He didn’t want to provide even more inspiration for the nightmares he was sure to have of this day. “I failed you. But I avenged you, Naruko,” he said and rested a hand to her cheek. 

He would have to carry her body back. He’d have to look Kakashi and Sakura in the eye and admit that he’d failed. But at least he’d gotten his revenge on her behalf. But it wasn’t just Orochimaru. It was the Akatsuki that had threatened her. They would all die by his hands. Sasuke slipped his arms under her back and knees, tucking her body into his chest and starting the trek back. 

He was feeling so many emotions at once, he wasn’t sure how many. There was predominately anger- a righteous fury simmering away just under his skin. There was a coldness in his chest, an empty space where he was sure that his heart was still beating away. There was regret and frustration at his own shortcomings. And underneath all that, there was a sense of sadness and grief that he adamantly refused to acknowledge. He kept walking. 

As he took each slow step, his mind tortured him with memories of her. 

_“I’m going to be the_ _first and greatest female Hokage!”_

_“Duck butt!”_

His steps were slowing, his feet dragging on the ground. He squeezed her closer to him, her face resting in the crook of his neck. 

_“Why do I have to be put on a team with_ him!?” 

He told himself it was the exhaustion that had his arms shaking. 

_“_ _I’ll miss you, Teme.”_

He was so caught up in his memories, he didn’t notice the chakra gathering around her until he felt it burn at his skin. With a curse, he staggered to a stop, his eyes shooting down to her. Bright red chakra was bubbling up from her stomach, slowly starting to coat her entire body. Sasuke quickly crouched to the ground to set her down before examining the burns to his arms. He looked back at her body in confusion. If the tailed beast was extracted, the host died. What happened when the host died while the tailed beast was still inside? 

Sasuke watched in fascination. He had no explanation for what he was seeing. A part of him considered the idea that the kyuubi was trying to break free. If that were the case, he’d have to grab her body and make a run for it while he could. He didn’t have the strength to fight anymore. He watched and waited, but the red chakra just bubbled away harmlessly. He could see steam rising off her body and he slowly moved closer. Anticlimactically, he watched the chakra slowly disappear, as if drawn back inside of her. He was leaning over her now staring at her for any clue of what the hell was happening. 

He was about to reach for her again when she suddenly sat up screaming his name. Sasuke hadn’t had time to move out of the way and had gotten headbutted by her brick wall of a skull. Sasuke hissed in pain, clutching his head. At the sound of her complaining about the pain in her own head, Sasuke froze. Releasing his head, he stared at her in shock. 

She was rubbing her skull, groaning in pain. She blinked a few times before looking around her in confusion. When she saw him, her jaw dropped. “Sasuke! You’re covered in blood! What the hell happened to you!?” she asked, her hands clutching his bloody clothes. 

She couldn’t be serious. 

Sasuke watched her examine him, her hands flitting over his clothes and wiping at his cheeks. Eventually she noticed her own clothes and stared down at herself in shock. “How much blood did I lose? Wait. Where’s Orochimaru? Did he run off? Sasuke?” 

Fisting him hand in the front of her jacket, Sasuke pulled her to him roughly. Judging by the puff of air she exhaled, he could tell that he had pulled her in a bit too hard, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. He held her to him, his arms like a vice around her smaller form. From the way he had her pinned, her arms were stuck at her sides and her face was pressed into his shoulder. 

“Sasuke?” she asked in a confused and soft voice. 

“Dobe,” he replied, pouring all of the grief, exasperation, stress, worry and relief that she’d filled him with. His arms tightened around her. She wriggled as much as she could, her arms reaching around to pat him on the back. She didn’t say anything for a while, staying still before slowly returning his hug and burying her face in his shirt. 

When he’d gotten his fill of close personal contact, he pulled away from her and stood. She seemed frozen on the spot, so he offered her his hand. She gave him a small smile and let him help her to her feet. “What happened while I was out?” she asked as they started walking back. 

“Orochimaru is dead,” he said. 

Her eyes widened. “You killed him?” 

He was surprisingly very levelheaded at this recent development. He could feel the embers of his anger simmering. Not fully leaving him but dissipating enough for him to focus on other things. He didn’t answer her question and decided to ask one of his own. “How are you alive? I felt your heart stop.” 

“Yeah. It did stop. But the kyuubi healed me. Turns out that if I die, he goes away too,” she said. 

It would have been nice to know that before. “Hn,” he grunted because he didn’t know what else to say. And really what was there to say? She was alive- living, breathing, and heart beating. That’s what mattered. 

They walked for a while before Sasuke sensed a small group coming towards them. His eyes shot up to the trees and his body tensed, but he relaxed when he recognized the chakra coming their way. 

“Sasuke-kun! Naruko!” Sakura shouted as she jumped down from the trees. She started to run towards them but froze at the sight of them. Sasuke watched Kakashi touchdown as well, his eye going wide. Sasuke was about to ask where the old woman was, but Naruko’s shout cut him off. 

“Gaara!” 

Naruko left his side and ran right into the (now living) red haired boy. She embraced him fully, not caring about the state of her clothes. Gaara stood awkwardly in her arms, staring down at her with fond admiration in his eyes. 

“How?” she questioned. 

“I lent Chiyo-san the chakra she needed for a medical jutsu that restored his life in exchange for hers,” Sakura explained with a saddened tone and eyed the body-sized mound of sand that was trailing behind Gaara. Everyone took a moment of silence for the elderly woman. While he was sure that her village would mourn the loss, Sasuke felt only gratitude towards the woman. Her sacrifice meant that Gaara was now living again which meant that Naruko was happy. 

“Naruko, Sasuke-kun… What happened to you two? You look like hell,” Sakura asked. 

Sasuke could feel Kakashi’s intense stare and Sasuke met his gaze. “Dead,” Sasuke answered Kakashi’s unasked question. Kakashi’s eye widened in surprise, but Sakura was still giving him confused looks. Not bothering to answer her obvious questions, Sasuke said, “Let’s head back. I’ve had enough of today.” 

~:~ 

Sasuke was sure that the next time he returned to Suna would be too soon. Their entire mission had been even more of a clusterfuck than their C-rank to Wave. Kakashi and Sakura had to be brought up to speed on what they’d missed, both of them paling considerably when they’d heard of Naruko’s temporary death at Orochimaru’s hands. When Kakashi had asked how he’d handled Orochimaru alone, Sasuke had given him a meaningful look and hadn’t offered further explanation. It wasn’t until they were alone in their room that Sasuke had explained that he’d unlocked a new level in his Sharingan. 

The Mangekyo Sharingan, Kakashi had called it. When Sasuke had looked at his eyes in a mirror, he’d marveled at the three, intersecting red ellipses design. When Kakashi had frowned at the sight of him, however, Sasuke had questioned his less than positive response. Kakashi had just told him to speak to Shisui as soon as possible, even before his own father if he could. 

So, here he was. Showing off his new eyes for his father, Shisui, and Itachi. His father looked proud yet slightly troubled. Shisui remained impassive. Itachi was the only one who looked to be silently grieving. 

“This is a momentous occasion. The Mangekyo Sharingan are said to be heavenly eyes that see the truth of all of creation without obstruction,” his father boasted. Sasuke could see the way Itachi tensed and his frown deepened. 

Shisui decided to speak up then, “It is initially awakened by the trauma suffered from witnessing the death of someone close to you.” 

Sasuke frowned as his eyes looked down and away. 

“Uchiha have historically misunderstood this to mean needing to be responsible for the person's death. For that reason, many developed the practice of killing their closest friends in order to gain this new power,” Itachi said. It didn’t matter in the end. He’d blamed himself when she’d died. 

“This is a great gift, but not a power to use lightly. Continued use will come at the cost of your eyes. Eventually, they will lose their light,” Fugaku warned. 

“Basically, you’ll go blind,” Shisui interpreted. Fugaku shot Shisui a look that the young man smiled off. 

“It’s not a power you should have to rely on either way,” Itachi said, giving Sasuke a long look. Itachi’s eyes were carefully blank, but Sasuke could see the small hints of worry that creased the skin around his eyes. He hadn’t been strong enough to face Orochimaru without these eyes. Although he did enjoy knowing that he had such a powerful tool in his arsenal, he knew that he couldn’t use them except for emergencies. 

“I am curious though. Whose death traumatized you so deeply, Sasuke?” Shisui asked. But judging by the grin on his face, Sasuke had a feeling that he already had a guess in mind. Sasuke glared at Shisui and refused to answer. Even his father was staring now, considering him. 

Itachi actually sighed. Sasuke looked at his brother, frowning at the sight of Itachi _rolling his eyes_. “Foolish little brother,” Itachi chided. “I told you so.” 

Sasuke couldn’t have stopped the blush that rose up his cheeks if he’d tried. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What did you guys think? 
> 
> Also, I know that chapters have been coming out relatively quickly. And I'd LOVE to keep the flow going, but I've started a new job with crazy hours and I won't have as much time to write. BUT, I refuse to let this story fall through the cracks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another long one. I considered breaking up this and the last chapter into two parts each instead of releasing such long chapters. I definitely foresee some future chapters being about as long as these were. If you guys would prefer shorter chapters or installments, let me know. The updates would definitely get out quicker if the chapters are shorter. There would just be more cliffhangers.

Sasuke looked around himself in confusion with a deep frown. He stepped through the gates to the Uchiha district, the sound of his sandals slapping on the ground seemingly magnified by the deathly silence of the streets. There was a slight chill in the nighttime air, strangely out of place for the middle of summer. The moon shone brightly overhead, illuminating his way. Sasuke walked through the deserted streets, eyes scanning the darkened buildings. A slight breeze blew a few leaves past his feet and upset one of the signs hanging over a storefront. 

A sense of wrongness started to build in his mind. There was a feeling- or was it a voice?- telling him to turn back. With every slow, measured step that he took, the feeling grew until he could feel a chill slide up his spine. He quickened his pace, his feet automatically following his usual path home. 

Sasuke tried to sense for the presence of another, but he couldn’t detect any chakra signatures nearby. He listened attentively and let his eyes scan the shadowy alleyways as he passed, but nothing stood out to him. The uneasiness building in his chest was the only indication that something was amiss. He could see the main family residence up the street, perfectly intact and seemingly unperturbed. Despite this, it felt as though the closer he got to his home, the more the anxiety grew within his chest. Once he was standing before his front door, Sasuke silently drew a kunai and pushed the door open. 

The house was expectedly dark and nearly silent, save for the slight breeze eerily blowing through the halls. Stepping inside, Sasuke couldn’t help but tense. He didn’t hesitate to activate his Sharingan and clutch his kunai tightly in his hand. This feeling was familiar. He could feel and see the oppressive and rancid chakra flowing through his home, tainting its normally comforting presence. 

“Orochimaru?” Sasuke called out into the darkness. His voice remained level despite the ubiquitous Killing Intent seeping through the very walls. Any sort of fear that Sasuke would have felt was effectively drowned out by the cold rage flowing through him. He’d already slain the snake in a mild blood rage that had quelled only slightly upon watching the man burn until nothing remained. While his emotional state had improved remarkably once Naruko had woken from her temporary “death”, shreds of hatred and darkness still lingered within Sasuke. 

“I’m pleased to know that you managed to survive. This gives me the chance to kill you all over again,” Sasuke smirked, his eyes swirling into the Mangekyo. 

“ _Sasuke…”_

Stepping onto the tatami mats of the washitsu, Sasuke narrowed his gaze at the unnatural darkness within the room. The darkness acted like a living thing, blocking any moonlight from filtering in through the shoji. From within the darkest corner of the room, a pair of golden, slitted eyes gleamed. Sasuke watched the disembodied eyes move in the darkness, moving along the walls and ceiling. Growing tired of Orochimaru’s pathetic intimidation tactics, Sasuke tossed some shuriken at where he assumed Orochimaru’s body would be. 

“ _Ku_ _k_ _u_ _ku_ _,”_ Orochimaru laughed from the ceiling, his snakelike body finally appearing through the darkness. Sasuke frowned at the sight of Orochimaru’s body having stretched and twisted to avoid all the shuriken. Suddenly, Orochimaru hissed viciously and launched his body from the ceiling. Sasuke watched the man’s fangs lengthen, poised to sink into his flesh. Channeling lightning chakra through his kunai, Sasuke leapt to meet Orochimaru halfway. 

His kunai stabbed the man through the chest, cracking bone and charring fresh, but Sasuke continued to force the man back and into the wall. His kunai was buried in Orochimaru’s heart, pinning the man to the wall behind him. He could feel the soft tissues and splintered bone rubbing against his hand that had lodged in the man’s thoracic cavity. Sasuke couldn’t stop the wicked grin that slid onto his face. An attack like this wouldn’t be enough to kill Orochimaru, but that just afforded more opportunities to make the man suffer. 

When Orochimaru coughed a splatter of blood onto Sasuke’s face, Sasuke glared up at the man in disgust. Sasuke froze when Orochimaru’s eyes shifted from his unnatural gold to a familiar bright blue hue. Slowly, Orochimaru’s features faded away, replaced by her bright ones. A lump lodged in his throat, his stomach turned, and his heart throbbed painfully in his chest. 

“Sas…ke?” her fragile voice questioned, full of hurt and confusion. 

Immediately, he staggered back. Eyes blown wide, he watched the blood seep from her wound -the wound _he’d_ given her- and drip down onto the floor at her feet. He was hyperventilating now. The sound of his own, ragged breaths seemed to snap him to attention. “Kai!” he shouted as he ceased his chakra flow. This had to be a genjutsu. That was the only explanation. There was no way he’d- 

“Kai!” he shouted again, but she didn’t disappear. This couldn’t be happening, but it was. He’d really- 

Not finishing the thought, Sasuke rushed over to her and removed the kunai as carefully as he could. “Sasuke, you… really wanted to kill me,” she said and stared at him, betrayal swimming in her eyes. ‘ _No_ _!_ ’ 

“Usuratonkachi! I can-” he started but stopped when she started calling his name. 

“…suke…Sasuke… _Sasuke_!” 

Snapping up abruptly, Sasuke gasped and reached for the kunai under his pillow. He lashed out at the body near him, nearly slicing through the intruder’s abdomen. Recognizing his attacker, Sasuke froze in place. Itachi was standing calmly out of arm’s reach, his hands raised palms forward in a placating manner. Sasuke released a shuddering breath as the kunai clattered onto the floor. 

“Sasuke, do you know where you are?” Itachi asked in an even tone. 

Recognizing the question as a check on his mental state and awareness, Sasuke tried to appear as nonthreatening as possible as he replied, “I’m in my bedroom in Konoha.” 

Itachi relaxed his posture, taking slow and louder than normal steps towards Sasuke. Trying not to startle him, as he were a wild, frightened animal. Itachi crouched slowly to pick up the discarded kunai and placed it on the desk behind him (and out of Sasuke’s reach). Once Sasuke had gotten his breathing and heart rate under control, he asked, “Did I wake Kaa-san or Tou-san?” 

“No. I sensed your chakra spiking. You were silently tossing when I entered,” Itachi answered. 

Sasuke nodded once and slumped forward slightly. Stopping the chakra flow to his eyes, Sasuke rubbed at them to soothe the residual burn. Itachi was still standing in his room, silently waiting. “I’m fine, Itachi. You can go back to bed.” 

“Sasuke, this is the third time this week that I’ve had to wake you from a nightmare.” 

“You don’t need to-” Sasuke started, but Itachi quickly cut him off. 

“It’s _Tuesday_ , Sasuke,” Itachi pointed out. And because he felt the need to drive the point home, he continued, “You’ve had nightmares _three_ nights in a row.” 

Sasuke didn’t have a response that would satisfy, so he remained quiet. That seemed fine for Itachi, who had only gotten started with his lecture. “I haven’t pushed you to discuss what has been affecting you because I assumed you would address it when you were ready. I haven’t spoken to our parents about it, but Kaa-san is starting to notice how constantly exhausted you look.” 

Sasuke rubbed at his eyes again. 

“If you don’t wish to talk to me, I’d advise you to find someone you _do_ want to speak to about what is haunting you.” 

“You don’t need to speak so vaguely, Itachi. I know you already figured it out,” Sasuke griped and moved to lay back down. Sasuke could feel Itachi’s heavy stare, but he kept his eyes resolutely on his ceiling. Eventually, Itachi would resign himself to the fact that Sasuke wasn’t going to speak about the matter any further. It’s not that he didn’t trust Itachi. Sasuke just didn’t see the point in talking about it. Talking about his dreams would just give them credence. If he ignored them, eventually they would fade into the background of his life, locked away in a box where he kept the horrors he’d seen and done as a loyal Konoha ninja. 

Itachi let out a soft grunt, seeming to come to a decision. Sasuke waited for his brother to leave but was surprised when Itachi shoved at his side. Sasuke let out a noise of objection but scooted over regardless. In astonishment, Sasuke watched Itachi climb into his bed and pull Sasuke’s covers over himself. “Itachi-” Sasuke started, but Itachi’s slightly annoyed voice cut him off. He’d _almost_ completely hid the undertones of concern in his voice. 

“I’d rather not go all the way back to my own bed just for you to wake me again in three hours. I’ll wake you if you start having a nightmare, but I’ll hit you if you kick me in your sleep,” he promised from over his shoulder. Sasuke watched Itachi actually settle into his bed and try to go to sleep. 

When he’d been little, Sasuke had snuck into Itachi’s room on multiple occasions to escape his childish nightmares. Itachi was always quick to pull back his covers and allow Sasuke to sleep with him, making sure to move Sasuke back to his own bed before their parents could wake. It was always best not to let their father catch wind of Sasuke’s weakness, lest he have to endure Fugaku’s lectures on strength and becoming a man. 

Sasuke snorted. He didn’t kick in his sleep (anymore). “ _At least I don’t hog the covers_ ,” Sasuke mumbled and turned his back to Itachi. When Itachi’s foot kicked the back of his legs, Sasuke was tempted to kick him back. Instead, he settled into his bed, Itachi’s familiar chakra a boon at his back. 

On some level, Sasuke understood what Itachi was trying to do. In an effort to spare Sasuke’s pride while still satisfying his own need to meddle in Sasuke’s life, Itachi was forcing Sasuke to accept some form of support (as unconventional as it may be). There was a part of him that appreciated Itachi, but there was another part of Sasuke that loathed himself for showing such weakness. Itachi was in ANBU. He’d been a shinobi since he was a child. Not once had Itachi ever shown signs of weakness. 

~:~ 

He must have actually managed to fall back asleep because when his eyes opened, the sun was already high in the sky. Itachi had predictably left, probably risen before dawn as usual. Sasuke rolled over onto his back and stared up at his ceiling. He did feel more rested than yesterday but sleep still beckoned to him. He could try to get another hour or two, but that would just have his mother coming to check on him in concern. Besides, he had things to do. 

Once he was dressed for the day, Sasuke made his way down to the kitchen to try to scavenge something to eat. His mother was in the kitchen when he walked in, busy washing the last of the breakfast dishes. She paused when he walked in, her eyes scanning over him. Sasuke remained still in the doorway to let her finish her inspection. When she turned back to the dishes without a word, Sasuke nearly breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Sasuke, I set aside some food for you.” 

Offering a quiet thanks, Sasuke retrieved the plate of food and sat at the table. She hadn’t said anything about the obvious bags under his eyes or the slight pallor of his face. But there was an obvious tension in the room that he imagined she was considering the best way to break. His mother was an expert at maneuvering the men of her household. She had gotten copious amounts of practice on their father and knew the best ways to handle her sons’ stubbornness. 

“Sasuke, you slept in today. That’s not like you. You don’t have a mission today?” she asked in that soft and soothing tone of hers. 

“I was going to stop by the assignment desk later,” Sasuke offered. 

“You’ve been taking a lot of missions lately.” 

It wasn’t hard to tell where Itachi had gotten his ability to argue; as if he’d taken detailed lessons from their mother on how to trap someone with their own words. “If I can serve the village and bring pride to the clan, shouldn’t I?” Sasuke asked and prodded at the rice in his bowl. 

“Don’t play with your food, Sasuke,” Mikoto admonished when she turned to face him. Suddenly feeling six instead of sixteen, Sasuke placed his chopsticks to the side. “I’m proud of you, Sasuke. You’ve become a valuable asset to the village, and many have taken notice. However, I think you should take some time off. Hokage-sama will understand if you want to take a break from the back-to-back missions.” 

Sasuke frowned down at his half-eaten food. Of course, he would. It’s not like the Yondaime was specifically asking for Sasuke to take on so many missions. It’d been Sasuke pushing himself as of late. Ever since he’d gotten back from Suna, Sasuke had tried his best to ignore the implications of obtaining his new eyes. Idle hands were the devil’s playthings. He had just been trying to distract himself. But all of it was pointless if he still had nightmares when he was home. 

“Sasuke?” Mikoto prompted. Sasuke glanced up to see his mother staring at him with a teacup in her small hands. She sat in front of him with her back straight and her shoulders back. Despite the soothing tone, Sasuke could detect the subtle command in her tone. She spoke the words of a concerned mother, but she had the posture and aura of the clan matriarch. 

Sasuke let out a noncommittal grunt and returned to his food. But at his mother’s stern “ _Sasuke”_ _,_ he knew that she was not accepting less than a proper answer from him. “Yes, Kaa-san. I need to go see Sakura at the hospital anyways.” 

And just like that, she slipped back into her concerned mother role. She rested a hand onto his forearm with a frown. “Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine. Sakura’s been showing me medical ninjutsu. Just the basics,” Sasuke explained. 

Mikoto nodded to herself and sipped her tea. “Don’t let your father know. He wouldn’t approve of you learning medical ninjutsu. He believes healing to be a woman’s skill,” Mikoto said with a frown. Sasuke could feel an iota of shame niggling away at him. His father was a very rigid man steeped in not just clan tradition, but societal norms as well. The idea of disappointing his father almost made Sasuke change his mind about going to see Sakura. Almost. Sasuke watched as his mother started muttering to herself, “Which is _complete_ _nonsense_. It’s a valuable skill for anyone to learn, especially those who have a proficiency for it.” 

Sasuke smiled softly down at his food. His mother cared much less for traditions than most of the clan. Sasuke supposed it had a lot to do with Kushina’s influence. Whenever he or Itachi (but mostly Sasuke) did something that displeased or unintentionally slighted Fugaku, their mother was always quick to intervene on her sons’ behalf. 

Sasuke could remember one such incident when he’d been about seven where he’d quite intentionally and bluntly insulted one of the clan elders. He’d met the elder (who’d smelled of mothballs and some unidentifiable scent that just screamed _old_ _)_ and had practically _demanded_ to know just who the man was. When his father had told him that Furui-sama was a very influential and powerful clan member, Sasuke had stared up at the ancient and grey man in extreme skepticism before confidently proclaiming Itachi to be stronger. While he hadn’t been _wrong,_ Fugaku hadn’t appreciated Sasuke’s astute observation at the time. Fugaku had promptly chastised Sasuke while Furui-sama had declared Sasuke to be the most disrespectful child to be born of the main branch family that he had ever met. Sasuke hadn’t felt that the judgement was fair, but Fugaku had quickly agreed and sent Sasuke away to his room. Itachi had wanted to go with him, but Fugaku had kept him from following. 

As he was walking away with his shoulders slumped, Sasuke could hear Mikoto chastising his father for his harsh words. Instead of going to his room, Sasuke had hidden just out of sight and listened in. When Furui-sama had declared his mother to be an unfit clan matriarch for her insolence, she was quick to turn her ire on the wrinkly man. Sasuke had never heard his mother raise her voice before, but he was sure that anyone just outside the house could hear her loudly defending her children and herself. Furui-sama had left the house in a huff while cursing “that impudent woman and brat of a son”. Sasuke didn’t have any other memories of the old man after that. 

“Alright. Thank you, Kaa-san,” Sasuke said and returned to his food. Mikoto smiled softly and went back to sipping her tea. 

~:~ 

“ _This_ is the best way to do this?” Sasuke couldn’t help but ask as he stood on the pier at his favorite lake. 

Sakura folded her arms raised a brow at him. “You asked for my help. If you want to learn the basics, this is where you start. Now, hurry up. I can only supervise for an hour,” Sakura said and waved him off. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her before diving into the water. It took a few seconds, but he was able to resurface with a medium-sized fish thrashing in his grasp. “Good. Now let’s begin.” 

Soaking wet, Sasuke held the flopping fish down onto the wood of the dock until it stopped moving. Once the fish was close to death, Sasuke began the Mystical Palm technique. Sakura kept a watchful gaze but offered no advice. He’d been taking instruction from her ever since they’d gotten back from their mission to Suna. He was adequate at best with healing, only having decent enough chakra control to perform the jutsus, but he wasn’t expecting to save lives like Sakura any time soon. But if he could keep someone alive long enough for her or someone better trained to arrive… 

He must have been leaning over that fish for almost an hour by the time it started to twitch slightly. “Don’t forget to stimulate the secondary gill lamellae,” Sakura reminded. The twitching was turning into a full-body flop now. A few more minutes passed before the fish began thrashing wildly on the dock. Sasuke sat back and watched the fish writhe until it fell over the side of the dock and landed back in the water with a loud splash. Although he hadn’t moved in over an hour, Sasuke was sweating a fair amount. “Very good! Although I am a little jealous that you’ve picked this up so quickly. It took me a month just to get the fish to move,” she finished with a grumble. Sasuke looked up at her with a smirk. When she saw his sharingan swirling lazily, she pouted. “Cheater,” she huffed. 

“It makes it easier to see the chakra flow,” Sasuke explained and stood. 

“And easier to memorize all the theory and applications,” Sakura pointed out with a pout. 

“You should be proud to have done it on your own without _cheating_ ,” he said. He’d never told her before, but he did respect the amount of work she’d put in these past few years. He’d only received a crash course for beginners and gotten several headaches and eye strain from it. 

“You’re just trying to make feel better. But you are right,” she said, preening. 

Sasuke scoffed once and rolled his eyes. Sasuke considered Sakura for a few seconds, just observing her. He’d wondered how she would fit into his life after she’d given up on her crush on him. He had wanted to call her a friend, but he’d also considered Naruko a friend and it didn’t feel right to give the title to anyone else. The relationships were just too different. But then he’d realized that it’d been much more accurate to call Naruko his best friend. Sakura was definitely a friend, but he still wasn’t sure where the lines of their friendship existed. 

“Sasuke-kun?” she asked him, frowning at his silence. 

“Nothing. Just thinking,” he answered, but didn’t elaborate. 

“ _Sasuke! Sakura-_ _chan_ _!”_

They both turned and spotted Naruko standing atop the hill, smiling down at them. She landed at their sides in a single bound, grinning brightly. “Why didn’t you tell me we were having a team meeting?” 

“Not a team meeting, Naruko. I was just helping Sasuke-kun-” Sakura started, but Sasuke cut her off. 

“Sakura, didn’t you say you had something to do?” he asked. She had been surprised by his smooth change in the subject but had respectfully dropped it. 

Sakura straightened. “You’re right. Shishou is gonna _maim_ me if I’m late. I’ll see you later, Sasuke-kun. Bye, Naruko,” Sakura said and fled. 

“What was that about, ‘ttebayo?” 

“What do you mean?” Sasuke asked but started walking away. 

Naruko was quick to start walking with him, not paying attention to the direction. “Since when do you and Sakura-chan hang out?” 

“Aren’t we supposed to? We _were_ teammates,” Sasuke pointed out. He slipped his hands into his pockets, keeping his gaze ahead of him. Sakura had looked confused as to why he didn’t want Naruko knowing that he was practicing medical jutsu. It wouldn’t hurt for her to know. But there was a part of him that didn’t want it to become common knowledge. He’d never expressed an interest in the skill before. It would definitely lead to questions that he didn’t feel comfortable answering. 

“Right. Well, I’m glad you two are friends now,” she said. 

“Hn.” 

“Do you want to train with me? I was training with Konohamaru earlier, but I’d like a good challenge,” she said and grinned at him eagerly. 

Normally, that’d be all it would take for him to take her up on her challenge. He could already feel his competitive spirit rising, but he was genuinely exhausted. The time he’d spent practicing medical jutsu had drained what little energy he’d regained this morning. He was sure that if they were to spar, she’d have him on his ass within minutes. She’d definitely be able to tell something was wrong with him then. “No thanks,” he said. Her grin dimmed and fell slowly. Immediately, he felt guilty. He quickly came up with an excuse, “I have some clan business to take care of for my father.” 

“Oh. Okay. Tomorrow then?” she asked with a hopeful grin. 

“Sure,” he replied. As long as he managed to get some sleep tonight. 

“I feel like I haven’t seen you since we got back from Suna,” she said idly. 

That was because he’d been taking missions to avoid confronting his problems. It’d provided the added benefit of avoiding _her_ as well. He had to admit that a part of him did miss her but being around her filled him with too many complicated feelings. He liked being around her but felt guilt over his past failures (no matter how brief). He wanted to be close to her, closer than they were now, but felt ashamed and embarrassed because of it. He wanted to hate her for bringing out these feelings in him and maybe a small part of him did, but he knew that the hate wasn’t completely justified. She probably had no idea what she’d done. It was a confusing and highly embarrassing dilemma. 

“I’ve been busy with missions.” 

“I figured. Tou-chan must be giving you hard missions. You look like a ghost, ‘ttebayo,” she said and poked his cheek. “I can ask him to give you a break or something before you keel over.” 

“Naruko,” he warned. 

She held up her hands in an attempt to pacify him, “I get it. I get it. You’re an _Uchiha_ and Uchiha are too strong and disciplined to keel over,” she taunted him, lowering her voice to try to match his baritone. 

“That was the worst impression of me that I’ve ever heard,” he insulted. She grinned up at him, everything about her lighting up despite his insult. As if the callous front to his words had rolled right off her back and instead revealed the fondness beneath. She could see it. She had learned when to take his insults at face-value and when to call his bluff. How deeply could she see through him? He rolled his eyes before reaching out to land a poke to her forehead. “Later, Usuratonkachi,” he said and shushined away without giving her a chance to reply. 

~:~ 

Family dinners at the Uchiha, main branch household were a very quiet affair. Maybe his father would converse with his mother about how he liked the meal or with Itachi about his missions. Sometimes, Fugaku would even ask Sasuke how he was progressing. But usually only the sounds of utensils clattering filled the air. So, when Itachi had spoken out of the blue at the dinner table, everyone stilled in mild surprise. And then the weight of his words had set in. 

“The Yondaime has named me as his successor.” 

Sasuke blinked in shock at Itachi from across the table, while Fugaku had beamed with pride. Mikoto smiled gently at her eldest, pride making her dark eyes shine. “That’s my boy,” Fugaku says, reaching out to clasp a hand onto Itachi’s shoulder. 

“Congratulations, Itachi. This is wonderful news. We should hold a celebration,” Mikoto supplied with Fugaku nodding along in agreement. 

Sasuke raised a brow. “He asked _you?”_ Sasuke blurted. He hadn’t intended for it to sound like an insult, but Fugaku had taken it as such. 

“Sasuke, this is an important moment for your brother. He has worked hard and is being acknowledged- an Uchiha is being acknowledged,” Fugaku said and frowned deeply at Sasuke. 

Thankfully, Itachi intervened before the situation could worsen. “He asked Hatake Kakashi first,” Itachi answered Sasuke. Sasuke nodded once in understanding. It only made sense for the Yondaime to ask his own student first. Plus, Kakashi was a well-known and accomplished shinobi. “Kakashi-san vehemently turned down the offer, however,” Itachi went on with a mildly amused look.

Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes. “That sounds like him,” Sasuke scoffed. Kakashi had proven himself as a leader more than once, but the man was criminally lazy with an aversion to responsibility. “Congratulations, nii-san,” Sasuke said with a smile. He did truly feel proud of his brother. And it wasn’t like it was a surprise. It would take something extreme to make a shinobi as loyal and accomplished as Itachi not be considered for the position. 

Itachi returned the smile before turning his gaze onto their parents and saying, “I’ve decided to accept his offer.” 

“Naturally,” Fugaku nodded. 

“I’ve also decided to move out,” Itachi continued as he met Fugaku’s eyes. Sasuke heard his mother’s chopsticks clatter from her hand. He watched his father’s eyes widen slowly as the weight of Itachi’s words sunk in. “I’ll be moving out of the compound and into an apartment on the edge of the village. I should have my things out before the end of the month.” 

Sasuke watched the proceedings quietly. His mother had gone wide-eyed and her jaw had dropped slightly. She still hadn’t picked up her chopsticks. His father’s stunned expression was slowly being replaced by a deep frown. “Itachi, we shall discuss this matter in private,” Fugaku said in a no-nonsense tone and stood from the table. 

Sasuke had to admire his brother’s nerve because Itachi didn’t flinch. “There is nothing to discuss, Tou-san. It’s done. I’ve already signed the lease.” 

Sasuke heard his mother make a soft noise that almost sounded like a whimper. She cleared her throat and tried to smile. “You are an adult. I suppose it’s only natural for you to want your independence,” she said and picked up her chopsticks. Sasuke could see the mournful look she tried to hide behind understanding and love. 

“Your mother is right. You are more than old enough to move out, but you are still an Uchiha. You will stay within the district. There are plenty of apartments here that are available for rent,” Fugaku said, his tone barely hiding the anger that was simmering in his dark eyes. He still hadn’t sat back down, staring down at Itachi with an authoritative air. 

Itachi continued to meet their father’s gaze from his seat. Although his tone didn’t change, Sasuke could hear the hard edge to it, “Soon, I will be more than an Uchiha. When I become Hokage, I will owe my life to the village.” 

With every word Itachi spoke, Sasuke could see his father’s face slowly redden. He heard his mother try to calm him down, but it wasn’t having much of an effect. “Itachi, you would turn your back on your clan?” Fugaku asked, a warning weighing heavily in his words. Sasuke stopped eating, his eyes glancing between his brother and his father. 

“I do not see how I would be doing so. Is the clan not a part of the village?” Itachi challenged with a narrowed gaze. 

It was an innocent question, but judging by their father’s reaction, Sasuke felt that he was desperately missing something. Their father’s anger had chilled, morphing into a cold fury. Mikoto rested her hands in her lap, frowning down at her food. Fugaku turned his face away from Itachi and spoke, “Itachi, you disappoint me.” 

Sasuke’s eyes widened as he watched his father stride from the room, leaving the rest of his meal untouched. Itachi stared at where their father had stood, not saying a word. His mother just kept staring at her food. Sasuke had never heard their father so blatantly express disappointment in anything Itachi had done. Sasuke tried to catch Itachi’s gaze, but his brother didn’t meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, Kaa-san. I’m no longer hungry,” Itachi said and picked up his dishes. Sasuke watched Itachi clear away his leftover food, place his dishes in the sink, and leave the room without another word. 

At his mother’s soft sigh, Sasuke turned to her in question but she was rubbing at her temples. “What a mess,” she muttered. She got up from her seat to tend to his father’s dishes. 

Sasuke stared at his own food. He wasn’t that hungry anymore. Collecting the remaining dishes, he cleared the food from them before giving them to his mother. “I can talk to Itachi if you want,” he offered. 

“No. That won’t be necessary. Itachi’s right. Your father is just stressed and said things he doesn’t mean. I’ll talk to him to try to get him to see reason. Don’t worry, Sasuke. Everything will be alright,” his mother said with a soft smile. Sasuke couldn’t help but notice how much older she looked in that moment. The stress from dinner seemed to settle onto her features, making the slight wrinkles on her face and few strands of grey in her hair seem magnified. His mother was still as beautiful as she’d been when he was a child. He just supposed that he hadn’t noticed that as he’d grown up, she’d grown older. 

“Alright,” he acquiesced and pressed his lips to her temple. 

“You’re such a caring boy, Sasuke,” she said and smiled wider. He could see her laugh lines more clearly. He let her pat his cheek softly before he left her alone to seek out his brother. On the way to Itachi’s room, Sasuke could sense his father’s chakra rolling and spiking intermittently. He was genuinely angered by Itachi’s decision. Or was it from Itachi’s final words? 

When he’d gotten to Itachi’s room, he knocked twice on the door. No response. Well, no response wasn’t a definite “go away”. Pushing the door open, Sasuke paused at the sight of a few half-packed boxes on the floor. “I didn’t even notice that you’d started packing already,” Sasuke said as he closed the door behind him. Itachi’s shoulders were tense and his movement were stiff as he folded one of his shirts. “Do you want some help?” 

Itachi stared at him for a few seconds before nodding once. “Thank you, Sasuke.” 

“I’m not mad with you, in case you were wondering. I’ve been telling you to leave,” Sasuke said as he took a pair of pants down from the closet. 

“Leave the _house,_ not the compound.” 

“Well, it’s not like you’re moving to Sunagakure or something. You’ll still be in the village. Maybe the distance means you won’t bother to meddle with my business anymore,” Sasuke said and placed the pants into a box with other clothes. 

“Sasuke, you’re my little brother. Everything you do is my business,” Itachi said as if it were fact. 

Choosing not to bother dissuade Itachi from his belief, Sasuke brought up something that had been bothering him. “Father reacted pretty badly. I didn’t think he’d be so upset. It’s like you’d said that you were abandoning the village. But then again, I didn’t think it was such a big deal not to live within the compound.” 

“It isn’t. There’s no law confining us here. Some people are choosing to shackle themselves to their beliefs,” Itachi scoffed. 

“What are you talking about?” Sasuke asked and stilled. There was something going on- something he wasn’t privy to. As Sasuke stared at Itachi, he could see his brother’s walls going up. But before Itachi could change the subject or offer an excuse, Sasuke continued, “I can tell that something is going on, Itachi. I’m not stupid.” 

“I didn’t think that you were,” Itachi said and stared down on the uchiwa fan stitched into the back of one of his shirts. Sasuke waited for Itachi to say something, but he didn’t expect his brother to begin moving through privacy seals. “What I’m about to tell you is not something you can repeat. Very few outside the clan are aware of this.” 

Sasuke straightened and gave Itachi his full attention. A part of him hadn’t believed that Itachi would answer him. Sasuke liked to think that there weren’t many secrets between him and his brother. But whenever his brother had chosen to keep secrets, they were always ones he guarded closely. 

“You were too young to remember. Just after the kyuubi attacked the village sixteen years ago, there was a period of time where the Uchiha faced scrutiny from the village. There were rumors at the time that the Uchiha had somehow been involved with the kyuubi escaping and attacking the village. There are a few outside of the clan who are aware of the sharingan’s ability to control the tailed beasts,” Itachi said. The sharingan could control the tailed beasts? Sasuke had never heard of their eyes possessing such an ability, but he wasn’t really surprised. He hadn’t known about the Mangekyo until about a month ago. 

“They blamed us. That’s ridiculous. Why would we attack our own village?” Sasuke asked rhetorically. He just didn’t see the logic. 

“It was probably left over suspicion from Uchiha Madara’s original attack on the village decades ago. It didn’t matter. The idea got enough traction that the Uchiha were to be placed under suspicion. Our clan was relocated to the edge of the village during the village reconstruction. The relocation was passed off as an attempt to have the Police Force located closer to the prison to maintain control, but several clan members felt it was another attempt to ostracize the Uchiha. 

“For a few years, the clan was watched closely while simultaneously being kept at a distance from the rest of the village and the government. There were whispers amongst the clan, dissatisfaction was rising. At the same time, the Yondaime made several attempts to appease the clan, but he was constantly at odds with the village council and many of his efforts were invalidated by public opinion. 

“It was around the time that I had joined the ANBU when dissatisfaction with the village was starting to peak. The clan elders treated my new position as a way to get close to the village government. I was meant to act as a pipeline between the clan and the village, as if they were two separate entities,” Itachi scoffed. “I didn’t agree with the majority at the time and father received scorn from the clan for it. I was placed under suspicion from the clan for being a village sympathizer.” 

“You were just a kid,” Sasuke couldn’t help but interject. Itachi had been just eleven when he’d joined the ANBU. To hear that his brother had treated so poorly by the clan… Sasuke frowned. 

Itachi continued on as if what Sasuke had said didn’t matter. “Father doesn’t know this, but while I was supposed to spy on the village, I had been ordered to do the same to the clan. Fortunately, I never had to carry out these orders. The Yondaime caught wind of what was happening within the village, what one of the former council members was orchestrating behind the scenes. An investigation was quietly launched, and enough evidence had been found to prosecute the man responsible. 

“Shimura Danzo,” Itachi answered, spotting the question in Sasuke’s eyes. “He was declared a traitor of Konoha before a public execution. Afterwards, the Hokage issued the Uchiha a public apology for Danzo’s actions against the clan as well as his own unknown complicity. Since then, the Yondaime has continued his efforts to reintegrate the clan in village affairs, but there are some within the clan who doubt his motives.” 

Sasuke frowned. “What did Danzo do? Making us live on the edge of the village hardly seems worthy of a death sentence.” 

Itachi smirked. “That was a minor slight to corral and distance the Uchiha. His major crimes included associating with the missing-nin, Orochimaru, providing Konoha citizens as test subjects for him, as well as desecrating Uchiha bodies to steal the Sharingan,” Itachi answered. 

Sasuke paled. Their Sharingan had been in Danzo’s hands. And not only his, but probably that traitor Orochimaru’s as well. Sasuke suddenly found himself wishing that he’d been the one to put an end to Danzo. 

“As you can imagine, some clan members find it hard to forgive, despite the Yondaime’s efforts. Old talks of revolting against Konoha are starting to have new life breathed into them. These are extreme opinions, however. The majority prefers to simply see themselves as victims in an unfair village. The Yondaime tries to appease the clan, but it never seems to be enough. It’s a precarious position to be in. I think he’s hoping that I can find a way to get through to the clan.” 

“Is that why you decided to take the hat?” 

“It’s one of the reasons. Mostly, I had no interest in becoming clan head,” Itachi said and resumed packing. “I do apologize though, Sasuke. Because I am no longer a candidate, father will look to you to lead the clan.” 

“You can’t do both?” Sasuke asked. Sasuke had never said anything within their father’s earshot, but he felt that a lot of their father’s responsibilities weren’t too taxing. If anything, it was his position as police chief that kept him the busiest. 

Itachi smirked and scoffed. “Do you think so lowly of the duties of clan head or so highly of my own capabilities?” 

“Both?” Sasuke answered and tucked away another pair of pants. 

“While I appreciate the compliment, I do not think I could do it all. The clan head has a duty to the clan. They must put the clan first and I can’t do that. The village should always come first. For the Hokage, the entire village is their family. The responsibility of clan head should fall to the one best suited for the job,” Itachi said. 

Sasuke frowned. Would father really expect him to become clan head instead of Itachi? Sasuke had never considered such a thing. It was Itachi’s birthright. But if their father _did_ ask, what would he say? “Do you think that I could do it?” Sasuke asked in a small voice. 

Itachi gave him a considering look before responding, “I think you could do so much more.” 

Sasuke turned back to the closet for another shirt to hide the pleased smile on his face. He folded the shirt with his back turned, trying his best to calm the happiness he felt at Itachi’s praise. 

“I would advise you to decide for yourself what you wish to do. Don’t let father’s words influence you too greatly. It’s your decision to make. Just don’t take too long to make it. I doubt father will wait too long before approaching you,” Itachi advised. “Also, Shisui is planning a surprise housewarming party for me next week. Help him with it before he goes overboard and invites half of the jounin within the village.” 

“How is it a surprise if you know about it?” Sasuke scoffed. 

“Little brother, I know everything.” 

~:~ 

Sasuke leaned back against a tree before sliding down the trunk with a soft grunt. Kakashi was panting softly from across the training grounds, stray jolts of lightning still running along his hand and arm. Sasuke closed his eyes for a few seconds as he took a few deep breaths. His chakra reserves were still decently full despite the several chidori and katon jutsus he’d used. Training with Sakura had definitely improved his chakra control and stamina. With another grunt, Sasuke pushed himself back up onto his feet. When he faced Kakashi again, the man seemed to slump slightly. 

“Maa, are you sure you took a long enough break?” Kakashi asked. 

Sasuke frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re getting tired already. Aren’t you the one always saying that you’re not that old?” Sasuke taunted. Sasuke could swear that even Kakashi’s gravity-defying hair was starting to droop slightly. 

“I wouldn’t say _that._ This just seems out of character for you. You wouldn’t normally come to _me_ for an all-day slug fest,” Kakashi said with a shrug. Sasuke’s frown deepened, but he didn’t know what to say. Sometimes he regretted spending so much time around overly observant geniuses. 

Kakashi shrugged again with a deep sigh. “It’s not my business, but I do feel somewhat responsible for the happiness of my cute, former students.” 

Sasuke couldn’t resist an exaggerated eye roll. 

Kakashi walked over to him before clapping a hand down onto Sasuke’s shoulder. “Do me a favor and talk to Naruko. I care for her like a sister, but even I have my limits on how many times a day that I can be asked about you.” 

Sasuke flinched. Kakashi nodded once and said, “I won’t pretend to understand what’s going through your head. But for the sake of everyone else in the village, stop ignoring her.” 

“ _Sasuke!”_

Without any hesitation, Kakashi vanished with a swirl of leaves. Sasuke couldn’t say that he blamed the man. Refusing to look at her, Sasuke kept his gaze trained on the spot where Kakashi had stood. He could practically hear her stomping over to him, her chakra glaringly bright along his senses. “Teme,” she started. 

“Naruko,” he acknowledged and finally looked at her. She was glaring at him with annoyance and anger in her eyes, but he could see the bits of hurt hiding underneath. As he felt the guilt start to nag at him, he considered fleeing the way Kakashi had. But only for a second. There was another emotion- an inclination to face her head on. He could see the value in avoiding this argument with her, it would spare him from having to confront his feelings through her. But at his core, there was a force that he couldn’t explain nudging him towards her. 

“Fight me,” she demanded. 

He knew what she wanted. He knew that she was trying her best to connect with him in best way she knew how. Whenever they’d traded blows, he’d gotten his best view into her mind. It was yet another aspect of his bond to her that he couldn’t explain. He’d tried explaining their connection to Sakura once, hoping that she could help him better understand it, but she hadn’t been much help. The bond sounded foreign to her but incredibly “intense and romantic”. 

“Maybe later, Usuratonkachi.” 

“You said that days ago!” she exclaimed. “You won’t fight me, but you’ll train with Kakashi-nii and Sakura-chan. What’s wrong with me?” 

Luckily, they were alone because she was practically shouting at him now. “Nothing is _wrong_ with you,” Sasuke answered and tried to walk around her. 

She moved to stand in his way, standing on the balls of her feet to give herself some height as she glared up at him. “Then what’s wrong with _you_ , ‘ttebayo? And don’t lie! Itachi-nii said something was wrong with you.” 

Sasuke almost swore. He should have expected Itachi to go behind his back and recruit Naruko. “ _Nothing_ is wrong with me,” Sasuke hissed at her with a narrowed gaze. 

“Then fight me damn it!” 

Her wild exuberance would normally draw him to her and revitalize his mood. He wasn’t too tired from his training session with Kakashi and he’d gotten a decent amount of sleep last night, but there was still a weariness that was starting to settle into his bones. He must have been staring at her for too long, because she was starting to wilt, and the anger was starting to fade. She looked like she was grasping at her anger, desperately trying to hide the hurt. Truthfully, he didn’t care for either emotion on her face where he was concerned. 

“I’m tired, Naruko. We’ll fight another time,” he said, pouring as much sincerity as he could bear into his tone without embarrassing himself. 

She frowned and folded her arms over her chest. “Even I can see that, dattebayo. You look like shit,” she huffed. He resisted the urge to smack her upside the head like he used to when she annoyed him. “If you’re tired, why don’t you sleep more?” 

Sasuke clenched his jaw as he considered his options. He could be honest with her and spare himself from having to deal with her at a later date, but he doubted that she’d let him get away for too long. She was annoyingly persistent. 

She glanced away from him for a second, her eyes looking anywhere but up at him as she rocked on her feet. “Look… I know that I’m not Itachi-nii or Kakashi-nii or even Sakura-chan, but I’m still your friend. Right?” 

He furrowed his brows in confusion. Where was she going with this? “Of course.” 

“So, you can talk to me too, ‘ttebayo. You’re my best friend, Sasuke. I’d tell you anything,” she said, still avoiding eye contact. She had to be doing this on purpose. She’d managed to flood him with guilt while practically bulldozing his reservations. “Tou-chan says that it’s important to communicate with others when you’re having issues, especially for shinobi. He says shinobi aren’t tools, ‘ttebayo. We’re _human_ so…” she said and grabbed his arm. He could have fought her off, but a part of him was curious. He let her pull him over to the shade of some nearby trees and down to the ground. He watched her sit at attention and stare unflinchingly at him. 

There was a part of him that was ready to disregard her, but… She looked so serious. She looked determined, as if she was ready to physically fight whatever he said was ailing him. A part of him was touched and vaguely amused. Fine. He’d humor her. “I can’t sleep. I’m having… nightmares.” 

“About what?” she asked with a confused frown. She was probably wondering what could _possibly_ be haunting him. 

“You,” he answered. Immediately, she flinched and started shrinking in on herself. He rolled his eyes, immediately sensing where her thoughts were drifting. She was too easy to read. “Dobe, not about the kyuubi.” 

“Oh… I knew that, ‘ttebayo!” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. “You’re alive, but that doesn’t mean that you didn’t _die,”_ he said. Her eyes widened slightly, and she swallowed. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, not sure what to say to him. Channeling chakra to his eyes, he let his eyes swirl into the Mangekyo. Her eyes opened even wider. 

“What happened to your eyes?” she asked and reached for his face. She hesitated a bit, as if asking permission, but rested a hand to the side of his face when he didn’t pull away. 

“Itachi told me once that the Uchiha were once considered a cursed clan. The sharingan only manifests after experiencing powerful emotional condition, usually stress or loss of a precious person. The greater the loss that is felt, the stronger our eyes become.” 

She was staring at his eyes, her own eyes stormy and conflicted. A part of him was hoping that she’ll leave it at that and not look too closely at his words. A small, traitorous part of him was hoping that she would hear the meaning hidden in his words. 

“I think I get it,” she said. He stilled but kept his face carefully blank. “You’ve been different since we got back from Suna. I could see it and I think I could feel it too. I don’t really know how to explain it, but all I know is that it hurts,” she said and gripped the front of her jacket. 

His eyes slid closed as he started to breathe again. She had just confirmed his own ~~hopes~~ suspicions that she felt this bond between them. When she’d cried for Gaara, he’d felt and shared in her pain. And although he hadn’t told her, she had been more than aware of his own problems. He wondered if he should be more concerned by how connected they were. It certainly wasn’t the normal, run of the mill friendship. But the part of him that harbored his most selfish desires couldn’t be bothered. 

After a few seconds, she nodded once to herself and moved to lean against a tree trunk and stretch her legs out in front of her. She made grabby hands at him which he resisted at first, but hesitantly gave in when she pulled his head down onto her lap. He laid down, stiff as a board with the tips of his ears warming. He stared resolutely at her feet as he tried to slow his quickening heart. He was tempted to question her, but remained quiet. He could feel her chakra flowing and swirling around them both. “Kaa-chan did this for me whenever I had nightmares as a kid,” she said as if that explained everything. 

He could feel how tense she was and hear the unsureness in her voice. He knew that she expected him to push her away and he probably should. But the training ground was so peaceful, and her chakra was flowing and wrapping around him like a heated blanket. Slowly, he started to relax. If anyone came by, he’d get up. But until then… 

Her voice was growing in confidence now the more she relaxed. “I’m sorry for dying,” she said softly and rested a hand onto his head. “I won’t be going anywhere again, ‘ttebayo. You’re stuck with me forever.” 

“ _Great,”_ he mumbled. She hit his head lightly but then started raking her fingers through his hair. Sasuke felt his lids growing heavier. 

“It’s not gel. It’s really like this,” he could hear her whisper. He wasn’t sure if he’d scoffed out loud. 

“When you wake up, we’ll definitely fight, dattebayo. I’ve been training hard to master my wind chakra and I’m gonna kick your ass, Teme,” she said, but she was fading out. The last thing he remembered was her talking about finally managing to split a leaf before effectively passing out. 

~:~ 

“You know, when Naruko stopped coming by the hospital to ask me about you, I assumed that you finally told her how you feel,” Sakura said as she walked through the village with Sasuke. They had just finished another medical ninjutsu lesson and thankfully, Sasuke wasn’t nearly drained of chakra for once. Sasuke raised a brow at her. “But judging by that expression, I’m guessing that you haven’t told her yet. If you’re just using me as a way to avoid telling her that you love her-” 

Sasuke glared harshly at her before scanning the crowd around them to see if anyone had heard her. Sakura snorted before laughing loudly in his face. “You _really_ haven’t told her yet? Oh, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said his name with so much exasperation that he couldn’t help but frown. 

“There’s nothing to tell,” Sasuke insisted. 

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Your denial was kind of cute when you were _thirteen._ Now, it’s a little sad and _very_ infuriating.” 

“I suppose you think I should take your approach and hound her for a date,” Sasuke sneered. Immediately, he regretted his words. “Sorry,” he awkwardly offered. 

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved him off. “I was wrong in my approach. When you’d said no the first time, I shouldn’t have kept bothering you. I know it can be irritating when someone won’t take a hint. But at least I’d asked. You never know unless you ask. I don’t see what you’re waiting for. She’d probably say yes if you did. I can’t think of a girl who wouldn’t.” 

Sasuke felt the bit of hope fluttered in his chest at her words and promptly pushed it down. Changing the topic, Sasuke said, “My brother is moving out. We’re having a housewarming for him tonight. You should come.” 

“I think I heard about that from Kakashi-sensei. No offense, Sasuke, but your brother intimidates the crap out of me.” 

“He has that effect on people. I think he just likes to mess with them.” 

Sakura scoffed. “Okay. I’ll come. Pick me up at my house? I don’t know the way,” she said and stopped outside the door to her home. Sasuke blinked in confusion. He hadn’t realized that they’d already arrived at her door. He nodded at her and started to leave as she went inside. 

Maybe Sakura was right. Maybe Naruko would say yes if he asked her out. But it didn’t matter. She already meant too much to him. Sasuke frowned deeply. She mattered so much that she’d managed to change the very makeup of his eyes. Sasuke couldn’t fathom the idea of someone having that much of a hold on his emotions. A shinobi had no need for emotions. The list of people who truly mattered to him was a very short one. He didn’t need to make it worse by emboldening her name on that list. 

~:~ 

Even from down the street, Sasuke could hear the music playing in Itachi’s apartment. He was sure that Shisui had to have brought over a stereo because the genre was far from Itachi’s tastes. If he paid close attention, he could hear multiple voices speaking over the music. “I warned him not to, but Shisui still went overboard. It sounds like half of Konoha is in there,” Sasuke said with a shake of his head. 

“Maybe your brother is just really popular?” Sakura suggested. Sasuke gave her funny look. Had she _met_ his brother? 

Once they were standing at the door, Sasuke could hear all sounds within the apartment die down. He frowned in confusion, but Sakura was quick to open the door and push him forward lightly. 

_“Surprise!”_

Sasuke watched with wide eyes as a few party poppers blasted in his face and got confetti in his hair. Sakura came around his back to smile brightly and pop another one over him. 

“Happy birthday, Teme!” 

Sasuke stared at everyone gathered in his brother’s apartment with a stunned expression. His entire graduating class was here along with Kakashi, Shisui, Izumi and Itachi. Bright grins and some more subdued expressions watched him expectantly. 

“Maa maa. He forgot his own birthday,” Kakashi’s lazy drawl supplied. 

“How troublesome,” Shikamaru sighed. 

Sasuke quickly went through a mental calendar. “My birthday is tomorrow,” Sasuke pointed out with a frown. 

“Yeah. But this way we can wish you happy birthday at midnight,” Naruko pointed out smartly. 

“Dobe, you already said it.” 

She completely ignored him and grabbed a dark brown cupcake with a single candle. “We even got cake, dattebayo!” she exclaimed. He was about to point out to her that he didn’t like sweets, but she cut him off. “It’s not sweet. Kakashi-nii is weird like you and doesn’t like sweets either so he gets his own cake. I made this one and I think it turned out pretty great, ‘ttebayo.” 

She made him a cake? He glanced down at the frostingless cupcake. Rolling his eyes fondly, he squeezed the candle wick between two fingers and used fire release to light it. “Dobe,” he scoffed. 

“Make a wish!” 

What could he wish for? He could think of a few things. But what was the point? Anything he wanted, he could figure out a way to achieve it. And for the thing he couldn’t let himself have, it didn’t matter anyways. He blew out the candle. 

“Let’s get this party going!” Shisui cheered and brandished a bottle with an excited grin. Sasuke should have seen that as the first hint that tonight would be a mess. 

A gathering this large, especially in such a confined space, usually left him feeling uncomfortable. As if predicting Sasuke’s aversion to crowds, Shisui was quick to ply him with drink after drink. Sasuke had only intended to have one drink, maybe two. But only an hour had gone by and he already had three empty cups in front of him. 

Kakashi had ducked out shortly after telling him happy birthday so Sasuke was instead standing in the kitchen with Sakura. Itachi’s apartment was quite open so it was easy to remain where he was and watch Naruko loudly proclaiming that Shikamaru was cheating at cards. He could see the flush to her cheeks and hear the slight slur to her words. 

“So, what did you wish for?” Sakura asked and tipped her cup back into her mouth. 

“Nothing. If I want something, I’ll get it. Wishing won’t change that,” Sasuke said. 

“Yeah. _Right,”_ Sakura scoffed and eyed where Naruko was pulling at her hair in frustration. 

“I thought you didn’t drink,” Sasuke said and eyed her cup. 

“I’m suspending my beliefs for the night. I’ve been really stressed lately between the hospital, training with shishou, and travelling to Suna.” 

“Suna?” 

“I’ve been giving them lessons on poisons and treatment,” she explained. “And nice try changing the subject. But since I’m a nice person, I won’t bother you too much right now. It is almost officially your birthday after all.” 

“How considerate of you,” he replied sarcastically. 

She shrugged. “I just want you to be happy, Sasuke-kun. Naruko makes you happy. It seems simple to me.” 

“I’m starting to regret spending so much time with you. You’re becoming as annoying as Itachi,” Sasuke pointed out. She wasn’t wrong, though. It scared him how happy he felt around Naruko. He loved and hated how much control she had over him. He loved how powerful she made him feel when she stood at his side, but he hated how weak she made him with just a look. He could take that plunge like Sakura had suggested. But he hesitated. It was enough to just be her friend. 

As if sensing where his thoughts were headed, Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. In a surprising show of childishness that he blamed on the alcohol in his system, Sasuke stuck out his tongue back at her. His reaction had surprised her, but she quickly recovered from her surprise and started laughing. He felt his cheeks warm even more than they already were. He was about to say something mildly teasing to get her to stop laughing at him but stopped when he heard her snort loudly. She quickly covered her mouth, her eyes going wide. A smirk grew on his face. 

“Shut up,” she commanded. He barely held back a laugh. She eyes narrowed at him threateningly. She was about to say something else, but a loud laugh escaped his mouth before he could smother it down. He watched her cheeks flame and had to look away to try to get his laughter under control. As he was getting himself under control, he noticed that everyone was staring at them in surprise. 

“Huh… I didn’t know Sasuke knew _how_ to laugh,” Kiba commented, probably far louder than he’d intended. Hinata tried to shush him, but he shrugged in response. For several seconds, Sasuke didn’t know what to do. He briefly entertained the idea of just walking away and maybe sequestering himself in the bathroom while he tried to gain control of himself, but before he could move Shisui was pulling the attention back on himself. 

“Who wants a refill?” he shouted and brandished yet another bottle. Just like that, time started flowing again. 

“That was _so_ embarrassing. And now Ino’s coming over,” Sakura muttered. Sasuke tossed his empty cup in the trash and moved around Sakura to leave. Now was the perfect time to go splash some water on his face. “ _Coward,”_ Sakura hissed at him as he past. He preferred to think of it as a tactical retreat. 

~:~ 

Itachi was ready to pull his hair out. He watched his brother leave the room without a backward glance before shifting his gaze to where Naruko stared at his brother’s back. The blonde girl had been shooting his brother glances all night but remained surrounded by her friends. She’d smiled and laughed with them, but her smile would falter slightly whenever she glanced at his brother chatting with the pink-haired medic. Itachi was sure that nothing was going on between his brother and the medic. He’d gleaned enough of their conversations from reading their lips. The medic, Sakura, was trying to push his brother to confess his obvious feelings for Naruko. However, his brother was being as stubborn as usual. 

Maybe he was going about this the wrong way? 

Itachi focused his gaze on where Naruko was staring into her cup with a small frown. He patted Izumi on the arm softly before leaving her side and heading over to Naruko. “Good luck,” he heard her whisper after him, already aware of his personal mission. 

Once he’d gotten close, Itachi said, “Naruko-chan, I didn’t get a chance to thank you. You put in a lot of work throwing this party for my brother.” 

Naruko looked up at him and beamed. “I know he doesn’t like parties, but this is the first birthday I got to spend with him in years. I guess I wanted it to be special.” 

“I’m sure he appreciates it.” 

“Yeah. He looks like he’s having fun,” Naruko said in a soft tone. She downed the rest of her drink with a grimace. She tried to smile, but it looked brittle to his eyes. She wore her every emotion on her sleeve, blatantly obvious to anyone who paid a modicum of attention. How had his brother missed it? 

“Naruko-chan, would you do me a favor? Shisui’s been pretty generous with the drinks and we’re starting to run low. Can you get some more from the guest room?” Itachi asked and took the empty cup from her. She nodded at him and left the same way Sasuke had gone. Itachi wasn’t sure what to expect but he hoped that an impromptu run in and a lack of inhibitions would loosen Sasuke’s tongue long enough to make him confess his feelings. And if this didn’t work, he’d keep trying. The night had just begun after all. 

~:~ 

Sasuke wiped the water off his face with one of the towels before examining himself in the mirror. His cheeks were still flushed and even his ears had gone pink. But he felt a bit more in control of himself now. He’d just slow down on the drinks and eat something. Then maybe he could leave without embarrassing himself any further. 

Leaving the bathroom with a sigh, it was pure reflexes that kept him from bumping into someone outside the door. “Sorry,” they said quickly and Sasuke froze. “Oh, Sasuke.” 

Sasuke tried to move around her and said, “Sorry. You can go ahead.” 

“No. I was getting more drinks,” she said showed him the bottles in her hands. Sasuke nodded and felt the words die on his tongue. She hadn’t moved and was staring at a spot on his chest. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. There’d been plenty of silences between them before, but it’d never felt so _awkward_. They’d managed to restore some normality to their relationship after he’d talked to her about his nightmares. But he’d only opened another can of worms when he’d rolled over and woken up on her lap. For a few blissful seconds, he’d stared up at her in admiration and everything was right with the world. He’d actually managed to have pleasant dreams and a restful sleep. But then their positions had fully sunken in. She hadn’t reacted poorly, but he’d been filled with embarrassment and regret (which was absurd because they hadn’t even _done_ anything).

“Are you having fun?” 

“Yeah. It’s a good party,” he said and hoped that he didn’t sound as awkward as he thought he did. 

“Thanks. Itachi let me plan it and have it here,” she said and smiled. 

“He told me Shisui was throwing him a housewarming,” Sasuke scoffed. 

“At least you were surprised.” 

He had definitely been surprised. He hadn’t expected her to go through so much effort for him. At most, he was expecting his mother to make his favorites for dinner and his family would wish him a happy birthday. “Thank you,” he couldn’t stop himself from blurting. 

She looked up at him in surprise before grinning. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and bounced on her heels. She was saying something else to him, but he wasn’t registering the words. His eyes scanned her face, taking in every minute detail. He watched her mouth as she spoke, his eyes catching on her tongue when she licked her lips. He stared at her eyes that seemed to express too many emotions all at once with the long eyelashes framing them. Her bangs were getting long. They were almost in her eyes. He brushed them to the side before he knew what he was doing. Her mouth had stopped moving and she was staring up at him in question. He could feel his heart starting to pound in his chest and his temperature skyrocketed. He could see her lips moving, recognizing the words leaving her lips. “Sasuke?” 

This couldn’t be natural. He’d tried multiple times to rationalize this pull she had over him, but he’d always failed. She was objectively pretty with her bright and somewhat exotic features and slim yet curvy frame. But he’d seen plenty of pretty women, even some objectively more attractive. But none of them had aroused such a deep attraction. It often felt like he had no control of his body where she was involved. As if her very presence caused him to act in ways he never would with others. “Why is it _always_ _you_?” he couldn’t help but ask. Her brows furrowed in confusion, but his body was already moving before she could respond. 

His hands cradled her slender neck, as his lips came down on hers. She had frozen up instantly with a surprised squeak. His hands moved to the back of her neck before his fingers tangled in her hair. He pulled her closer to him, her body heat seeping into him. Idly he could hear the sounds of the bottles shattering just before her hands slid up his chest to his collar. Suddenly, she gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him further down to her level. He tilted his head, leaning more into the kiss just as he felt his back touch the door. Her slim hands were tangling in his hair now as she seemed to be trying to merge their bodies into one. 

When he heard her moan softly against his lips, he felt both cold and feverish. He withdrew from her firm hold and stared down at her. Her eyes were still closed, and her fingers rested on his chest. He could smell the alcohol on her breath as she panted softly into the space between them. When her eyes fluttered open, she looked completely dazed. He wasn’t sure what to say to begin explaining his actions. He could feel some panic start to form the more time passed. He blurted the first thing that came to mind, “I have to pee.” 

He could tell that his words hadn’t fully registered yet but reached behind him to open the bathroom door and slip inside. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He could hear his heart beating out his chest, as his face flamed, and his lips tingled. He tried to calm his breathing, but he wasn’t having much success. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door. That was a mistake.

“ _Teme!”_ he heard her shout from the other side of the door before she pounded on the wood. 

Sasuke nearly cursed. He should have known that she wouldn’t leave him alone after that. After tonight, he was never drinking again. Alcohol impaired his decision making far too much. 

“ _Teme! You can’t just kiss someone and then_ _run away!”_ she shouted and banged on the door. When he heard the chatter of the party die down, Sasuke briefly contemplated throwing himself off the Hokage monument. Suddenly, Sasuke could hear what sounded like Shisui laughing up a storm while Sakura’s voice called out (probably so he could hear her), “ _What an idiot_.” 

“ _Naruko-_ _chan,_ _please don’t break down my door_ ,” Itachi called out. 

“ _I wouldn’t have to break it down if he’d just open. The. Door!”_ Naruko shouted and punctuated each shout with a pound of her fist. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke quickly opened the door wide enough to pull her inside before shutting it and locking it with a click. His hand was over her mouth before she could get a word out. Her eyes were blazing and honestly, he saw that coming. 

“Keep it _down,_ Usuratonkachi,” he hissed. She was glaring at him, but she didn’t look like she was going to keep shouting so he released her. 

“Why’d you kiss me?” she asked in a voice only slightly louder than a whisper. Sasuke clenched his jaw and looked anywhere but at her. “You shouldn’t kiss people when you don’t like them _that_ way, Teme.” 

He stared at her in shock. “Dobe. I wouldn’t kiss someone if I didn’t like them,” he said as if he were insulted by her assumption. 

“Then why’d you kiss me?” she asked and folded her arms. Sasuke resisted the urge to pull his hair out. Naruko could be a little slow on the uptake and quite dense, and it seemed that alcohol did nothing to help her. 

“Why’d you kiss me?” he fired back instead. Immediately, her face flamed. She avoided his gaze, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. He could recognize the look on her face. He’d seen it plenty of times before, but never on her. He wanted to kick himself. How long had she liked him back? Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head. “This is stupid,” he said and approached her again. She froze up for a second but was much quicker to respond to his kiss this time. 

When he pulled away from the kiss to take a breath, she asked, “You like me?” in a soft voice. “You have a funny way of showing it, Teme. I thought I did something to make you hate me.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

“You’ve been avoiding me _again_. I thought I’d made you mad or something. It’s nice that you and Sakura-chan are better friends now, ‘ttebayo. But you two were spending time together without me and I know I left for three years-” she rambled. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“You know I don’t like Sakura. That’s obvious, Dobe. She’s too annoying, like Itachi. I don’t think she likes me that way anymore anyways.” 

“Oh,” she said. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her again. “Well, I like you even though you can be a prickly bastard, ‘ttebayo.” 

“You’re not so bad for a loser,” he shrugged. 

“Teme,” she said without heat and stepped up to him. An excited happiness filled him, completely silencing all the guilt, doubt, and fear he’d been harboring. As he leaned down towards her, he felt her hands wrap around his neck and roughly pull him the rest of the way down. She kissed like she did everything else, enthusiastically and instinctually. But he wasn’t about to complain. 

“ _Oi! Quit hogging the bathroom! Some people have to take a piss!”_ Kiba’s voice shouted from the hallway outside. 

“ _Kiba-kun_ _!”_ Hinata objected in a strained voice. 

~:~ 

When Sasuke opened his eyes, he immediately shut them again and groaned. He covered his eyes with a hand and tried to breathe through the nausea rolling in his gut. When he heard a soft thunk, he cracked an eye open. He stared in confusion at the glass of water and the napkin with two pills resting next to his futon. His eyes glanced up to watch Itachi’s back as he left the room. 

“What happened?” Sasuke croaked through dry mouth. 

“You indulged. Don’t worry. All of your friends made it home in one piece, I think,” Itachi said over his shoulder. Sasuke sat up slowly and blinked at the bare surroundings. It took a few seconds for him to realize that he was in Itachi’s guestroom. Sasuke reached for the glass of water and nearly moaned in relief. “Happy birthday, otouto,” Itachi said with a smirk. Downing the aspirin with the last of the water, Sasuke returned to the comfort and darkness of the covers with a low groan. 

When he opened his eyes again some time later, Sasuke poked his head out from under the covers. He felt remarkably better, but still slightly nauseous. Pulling himself out of bed, he left the room behind and stepped into the living room. You couldn’t even tell that there had been a party here last night. Itachi had thoroughly cleaned up and was now sitting at the table with a cup of tea. “There’s some food in the fridge if you can keep it down,” Itachi said with a small grin. 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “What’s with you?” he asked and shuffled over to the fridge. 

“Nothing. I would advise you to speak to Naruko-chan as soon as possible though.” 

Sasuke frowned. Suspicions raised, Sasuke asked, “ _Why_?” 

“Because she has shown up at my door twice already asking for you. I believe she went to the compound looking for you before that. I’ve done my best to convince her to give you some time to recuperate, but I don’t think she’ll be turned away again,” Itachi said and hid a smirk behind his teacup. 

Sasuke was about to question Itachi further when flashes of the previous night came back to him. He could remember groping hands and sloppy kisses in a dark bedroom. Sasuke nearly cursed. “I’m never drinking again,” he promised. 

“That’s probably a wise decision. You two were quite _attached_ when I went to check on you at the end of the party. It was a bit of a hassle to convince Naruko-chan to head home. Sakura-san was very patient with her,” Itachi said. 

So she hadn’t spent the night with him. Sasuke nearly breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered the notion of being _intimate_ with Naruko. But that was a step he wasn’t ready for yet. Not only that, but he’d regret it if he was too drunk to remember his first time. A sudden knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. 

“Like clockwork,” Itachi mused with a small grin and went to answer the door. “Naruko-chan, come in,” he greeted and immediately left them alone. 

Sasuke froze at the sight of her. She was glowing, practically bringing the sunlight in with her. She looked no worse for wear, as if she hadn’t been throwing back drinks with him last night. He pouted at the bright smile on her face. “Why don’t _you_ look like shit?” he huffed. 

“The kyuubi treats alcohol like poison and clears it away,” she said with a shrug as she stepped up to him. “Ano… do you remember what happened last night? I think I do, but there are some blanks.” 

“Probably from one too many hits to the head,” he teased softly while reheating some leftover onigiri. 

“Teme,” she chided and frowned slightly. She seemed to be warring with herself, her eyes clouding with hesitation and worry. Sasuke stared down at her, wondering what could be going through her head. He watched as she suddenly came to a decision and looked at him with fiery, determination in her eyes. “Sasuke, I like you. You’re my best friend and I like you. I don’t know why. I just _do_ _,_ ‘ttebayo.” 

It didn’t take a genius to see what she wanted from him. After hearing her little speech, there was a part of him that wanted to deny her- _refuse_ to give her any more hold over him. There was another part that envied her ability to say such things so easily. She’d never had an issue with expressing herself and he’d always envied her for it ( _Rule #66: A shinobi must never show weakness_ ). 

If he turned her down like he’d done so many others, she’d get over it eventually. She’d get over it and eventually move on. She’d find someone else, date, marry… Would she have kids? He frowned at the uncomfortable feeling in his chest. A selfish thought suddenly popped into his head, ‘ _Would she have time for me?’_ Maybe… She still found time for him now. But if she found someone who cared about her half as much as he did… 

His hand moved before he could change his mind. With two fingers, he poked at her forehead and said, “Dobe, I told you last night, didn’t I?” Her eyes widened comically as a deep flush raced up her neck and covered her entire face. He could almost see the wisps of steam floating off her face. “What the hell are you thinking about?” 

“Nothing!” she shouted. She was so obvious he seriously wondered how he hadn’t picked up on her attraction to him before. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke cradled her cheeks with his hands, tilted her head up and brought his lips to hers. Maybe he was being selfish. But when Naruko practically threw herself into the kiss while pulling him in, Sasuke couldn’t bring himself to care too much. 

~Omake~ 

He wasn’t having nightmares anymore. He should be happy by this change, but Sasuke couldn’t help but feel like he’d traded nightmares for something far more problematic. Although he couldn’t sense anyone behind him, Sasuke quickly glanced over his shoulder. He’d left the lights off and used his sharingan to guide him through the darkness of the house. He read off the settings on the washing machine before selecting “Normal” and tossing in his sheets. The sounds of the washer were soft, but still loud enough to magnify the embarrassment he felt. 

Were the nightmares worse? Objectively, yes. 

Did it mean that he wanted to sneak around his home in the middle of the night because he didn’t want his mother to- 

Sasuke frowned deeply. Talking to Naruko had managed to help. She even snuck into his room once or twice to help him fall asleep. He was usually sleeping through the night now, except for nights like these. He’d already had to ban her from sneaking into his room at night. He appreciated the sentiment, but it only made it more embarrassing that _she_ was the one still haunting his dreams. 

Sasuke froze when the lights suddenly switched on. He could tell who it was by the chakra signature and he refused to turn around despite feeling the heavy gaze on his back. His entire face must be red. When he didn’t hear any teasing however, Sasuke risked a glance over his shoulder. 

Itachi was staring at him, expression blank. After a few seconds, his brother turned around and left the way he came without a word. Sasuke was about to breathe a sigh of relief but then he heard his brother say (a bit dramatically in Sasuke’s opinion), “This memory is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.” Sasuke silently cursed his parents for not making him an only child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my favorite parts of this story explore Sasuke's relationships with other characters. Not just his relationship with Naruko. But his relationships with Kakashi, Sakura, and Itachi.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured out the issue with the publication date for the chapters. Turns out, it was my fault for not changing the publication date before I posted the chapters. Whoops. At least I know better now. :)

“Little Sasuke-chan is growing up. It feels like just yesterday you barely came up to my waist,” Shisui said with an exaggerated sniff. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff. It was moments like these where Sasuke genuinely questioned whether Shisui was really an Uchiha. His cousin was dabbing at his completely dry eyes and blowing his nose into a napkin. _‘So dramatic,’_ Sasuke thought.

“Where has the time gone?” Itachi asked in that bland tone of his, but even he had a small, teasing smirk on his face.

“You are both ridiculous,” Sasuke scoffed and returned to his food. Why had he taken up Itachi’s offer to stay over for dinner again? Right, he had assumed that it would be just the two of them, but he should have known better. Itachi had barely finished laying out the food when Shisui had strode into the apartment as if he belonged there and claimed a seat at the kotatsu.

“Oh come on, Sasuke. We’re just teasing. You and Itachi are like brothers to me and what are brothers for?” Shisui said and clasped at hand onto Sasuke’s shoulder with a grin. Sasuke sighed softly and returned to his food. It’s not like he _minded_ Shisui’s teasing too much. His only saving grace was that Shisui wasn’t as meddlesome as Itachi. Accepting his lack of protest with a nod, Shisui turned to Itachi, “So how did you get them to separate this time? You said it took both you and Haruno-san to pull them off each other at the party.”

Sasuke nearly snapped his chopsticks as he turned a glare onto his brother. “ _Liar,”_ Sasuke seethed at his loose-lipped brother. Whether that was a lie or not, Sasuke wasn’t 100% certain. That night was still a bit of a blur…

Itachi finished chewing before he calmly responded to Shisui, “Sakura-san did most of the physical work required to pull Naruko-chan away from my brother. I believe the issue was that they were too intoxicated to see reason. Naruko-chan was more willing to leave this time when I pointed out how late it was getting. Kushina-san has very strict dinnertime rules.”

“I’m mildly surprised. I didn’t take Sasuke for the passionate or romantic type,” Shisui mused. “But he must be doing _something_ right.”

“I’m _right here,”_ Sasuke ground out and glared at both Itachi and Shisui.

“I admit that they have an… _interesting_ dynamic,” Itachi replied as if he hadn’t heard Sasuke.

“Interesting is putting it lightly. If I called a girl an idiot on a regular basis, I’d get slapped for it and my reputation would be shot,” Shisui complained.

 _“And what a reputation to lose_ ,” Sasuke muttered loud enough for Shisui to hear.

Seeming to no longer be ignoring Sasuke’s presence, Shisui turned to him with a wounded look. “Is that _sarcasm_ I hear, Sasuke? You make it seem like I’m some sort of _philanderer_.”

Sasuke snorted and asked, “How’s that civilian girl you were seeing? The one you said gave you chocolates for Valentine’s day.”

“He’s no longer seeing Kurosawa-san,” Itachi pointed out and took a bite of the tomato nabe he’d made. Sasuke shot Shisui a knowing smirk. “They were together for three weeks and four days.”

“Do you _always_ count down how long my relationships last?” Shisui asked Itachi, affronted by the blatant betrayal.

“It’s not like it’s a lot of work. What’s your record? Three months?” Sasuke teased with a smirk. Shisui narrowed his gaze at Sasuke in warning.

“Four,” Itachi corrected mildly.

Shisui hung his head with a loud sigh before giving Itachi an exasperated look, “Not all of us find their perfect match when we’re _seven_.” Itachi shrugged once in response. Turning back to Sasuke, Shisui pointed his chopsticks at his younger cousin and said, “Nonetheless, we’re happy for you, Sasuke. It was pretty painful watching you dance around your feelings and beat around the bush for so long.”

Sasuke felt his brow twitch when Itachi nodded along sagely to Shisui’s words. “I’m _so_ sorry for the inconvenience,” Sasuke muttered.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shisui waved him off with a grin. “You should really be focusing on where you’re going to take Naruko-chan for your first date. The first date is really important for determining how a relationship will progress.”

Sasuke would never admit it out loud, but he didn’t have the faintest clue how to be a boyfriend. His best examples came from his father and brother, but both of them were _very_ private with their more affectionate behaviors. Their displays of romantic love had been few and far in between- some hand holding or a slightly longer than normal embrace. Sasuke felt like he could handle that. He’d seen Shisui with a few girls over the years- a stark contrast to Itachi and his father. Sasuke was positive that he couldn’t handle public declarations of admiration just yet. (Shisui had _no_ shame).

Taking his silence as an answer, Shisui went on, “You have no idea what you’re doing, do you? You’re just like Itachi.” Itachi shot Shisui a mild glare but didn’t say anything. “Don’t give me that look. You were just as lost as Sasuke looks when you asked me for advice.”

Sasuke shot Itachi a look of surprise. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d never entertained the idea that Itachi had been _lost_ and had _no_ idea what to do once upon a time. Itachi had always seemed like a wealth of knowledge and experience. There was only five years between them, but it always felt like Itachi had an answer for every question and a plan for every situation. But, he supposed, even Itachi had to start somewhere.

Itachi had a slight tint of pink on his cheeks as he cleared his throat. “I was _thirteen,”_ Itachi stressed. “Besides, even I could see that Tou-san wasn’t the best option when I had _questions,_ ” Itachi explained.

“So, you asked _Shisui?”_ Sasuke asked incredulously.

“Of course! You won’t find anyone with better advice than me,” Shisui bragged. “I’d already had my first kiss before you were out of diapers, Sasuke-chan.”

Sasuke eyed Shisui before turning back to Itachi in question. His older brother sipped at his tea before silently nodding once at Sasuke’s hidden question. Sasuke turned slightly less dubious eyes back onto his cousin. He considered Shisui for some time and Shisui grinned at Sasuke in return. “What… what’s so important about the first date?” Sasuke managed to get out. Shisui looked positively _thrilled_ that Sasuke had asked. So thrilled in fact, that Sasuke wondered if he would end up regretting his decision.

“Girls are a different breed of creatures, Sasuke. They can decide within _minutes_ whether someone is worthy of their time. _That’s_ why the first date is important,” Shisui said with a finger pointed at Sasuke. “Luckily for you, Naruko-chan has already decided to give you a chance beforehand. But that doesn’t mean you can relax.

“Girls approach a relationship differently from us. Their goals are more focused on the long term. Most of them are looking for long-term commitment, marriage and kids,” Shisui said and finished off his nabe.

Sasuke chewed a tomato as he mused. Naruko had never mentioned any of that. When she spoke about the future, she was always declaring her plans to become Hokage. She had never once mentioned anything romantic. Did she want kids? Did he? Was he too young to be considering this?

“Maybe Naruko-chan is different though. You know her better than I do,” Shisui said with a shrug. “And that’s where you have the advantage. You’ve been friends for so long that you already know what she likes, dislikes, wants and needs. It shouldn’t be hard to find something that you both like to do and just go out and do that.”

Sasuke frowned as he thought. “We like to train,” he replied.

After a beat of silence where Shisui just stared at him, Shisui sighed and hung his head. Itachi shook with silent laughter before managing to get out, “I think that’s as good as you’re going to get, Shisui.”

“Training is hardly _romantic_ , Sasuke,” Shisui tried to explain as if Sasuke were a slow child.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Then what do _you_ suggest?” Sasuke asked snidely. Once again, Shisui grinned widely and almost predatorily. Sasuke felt as if that had been the wrong question to ask. He gulped.

~:~

Shisui’s words were still buzzing around in his head the next day. Sasuke did his best to focus on his training, but he could tell that his mother was more than aware of how distracted he was today. They’d chosen one of the empty Uchiha training grounds for their session today. Her sharingan were spinning lazily as she raised her katana to block the swing of his chokuto. Sensing that she was about to go on the offensive, Sasuke jumped back and out of the way of her blade.

When he was fifteen, Sasuke had spent several months pushing himself to master a wide range of skills in preparation for his jounin exam. He’d practiced genjutsu with Itachi, ninjutsu with Kakashi, and worked on his speed and taijutsu with Shisui. He had considered asking his father for a lesson or two of whatever the man was willing to teach him, but pride had held him back. He’d wanted to improve without his father’s help as a sort of surprise like he had done for his chuunin exams.

When his mother had offered to teach him kenjutsu, Sasuke was surprised to learn that she had more or less mastered the skill in both the generic Konoha and the Uchiha styles. He knew that his mother was an accomplished jounin before she had retired. But he was a little ashamed that he hadn’t even considered asking for her help.

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he decided to take her up on the offer, but it wasn’t the strict disciplinarian he had faced. His mother had been out of the field for years, but her skills were still sharp and her movements fluid and practiced. As a rule, he wasn’t allowed to use his sharingan when training with her, forced to rely on his natural reflexes and observational skills. He’d been completely overwhelmed within minutes, but she hadn’t bothered to give him much time to recover. She sometimes randomly switched between kenjutsu styles in an effort to keep him on his toes. She even slipped in movements from styles he couldn’t readily identify. Sasuke quickly learned that his mother could take training far more seriously than even Itachi. When she had helped him train before he had made genin, she was always patient and encouraging. But now that he was older, she faced him like an adult with quick strikes and almost harsh punishment for careless mistakes.

Despite her rough training methods, his mother was always quick to praise him and his quick mastery of his blade. Itachi hadn’t cared to devote too much time to the skill so it made her happy to be able to pass her skills onto him. Sasuke was happy that he’d made her happy and there was another part of him that was thrilled to be skilled at something Itachi wasn’t.

Sasuke dodged the quick, controlled swipes of his mother’s blade while preparing for a counterattack. He was easily blocked yet again, and he could see his mother frowning slightly at him. “You’re distracted. You’re lucky I haven’t drawn blood yet,” she admonished and forced him back with a push of her blade. Resisting the urge to scowl, Sasuke forced his mind to clear with a deep exhale before taking up the offensive. She was still easily reading his movements, but at least she was smiling again. “ _Much_ better,” she praised.

Sasuke tensed immediately. He was more than familiar with his mother’s patterns by now so he knew that once he had met her expectations, she would immediately increase the intensity of her attacks. He wasn’t disappointed when she tossed some shuriken from her sleeve and breathed fire release onto them. “ _Katon: Housenka Tsumabeni,”_ she called the jutsu.

Resisting the urge to activate his sharingan, Sasuke channeled his chidori through his blade and started to move. He could have tried to dodge the attack, but he knew that this was another one of his mother’s tests on his visual acuity and reflexes. He raised his chirping blade, easily deflecting the shuriken within his path while keeping his body low to the ground in order to avoid the rest of the flaming projectiles.

“Well done. It was wise to channel your lightning release through your blade. It wouldn’t have been able to handle the addition of my fire release without it,” she said and replaced her sword into its scabbard. Sasuke nodded in thanks while putting away his blade. “Can I ask what had you so distracted today?” she asked with a curious tilt to her head.

Before Sasuke could respond, another voice called out over the training grounds, “ _Sasuke!”_ They both turned to see Naruko waving at the edge of the training grounds with a wide grin.

Mikoto smirked while shooting her son a knowing look from the corner of her eyes. Sasuke wisely chose not to acknowledge her. Mikoto smiled serenely at Naruko’s approaching form before saying, “Naruko-chan, you’re looking especially happy today.”

Naruko’s grin dimmed slightly as a light blush tinged her cheeks and she nervously scratched at the back of her head. “What can I say? It’s a nice day today, dattebayo!” she said with a stilted laugh. Sasuke gave her an exasperated look. How did she manage to make it this far as a shinobi when she couldn’t lie to save her life?

“It sure is,” Mikoto said and grinned. “I think I’ve had enough training for today, Sasuke. I need to run some errands. I’ll leave you two to enjoy the day,” she said and patted his back softly before leaving them alone.

Was his father the only one in his family _not_ pushing him and Naruko together?

“Ne, Teme. Let’s get some ramen,” Naruko suggested with a bright grin as she rocked on her heels.

“You came all the way here to ask me to get ramen?” he asked a little dubiously. The Uchiha district was on the edge of the village. He was more than sure that she had gone out of her way to invite him out to eat. Suddenly, Sasuke remembered Shisui’s advice.

“ _Every girl eats. Go out to a nice restaurant and don’t forget to be charming. Use some of those manners I know Mikoto-oba-san taught you.”_

“Yeah! I have a coupon that I was saving, ‘ttebayo,” she said and showed him a wrinkled piece of paper from her pocket.

Sasuke was sure that going to Ichiraku Ramen while he was still sweaty and dirty from training was _not_ what Shisui had had in mind. Sasuke tried to think of a nice place to eat in the village, but he was drawing a blank. He didn’t normally eat out and when he did, it was for ramen or maybe barbeque. He must have been taking too long to respond because Naruko suddenly exclaimed in excitement before tugging him away from the training ground. Sasuke had wanted to object, but he could barely get a word in once she had started singing her ramen praises.

She was debating the merits of each flavor of ramen without much input from him as they walked through the village. She was telling him about the new flavor being offered at the ramen stand, not a care in the world. Sasuke couldn’t help but glance down at where she was holding onto him. Her hand was still secured around his blue wrist warmer even though he was now walking at her side. Naruko had no concept of personal space so he wasn’t surprised that she could touch him so freely. He was almost jealous of how easily she could get close to others. The only times he didn’t hesitate to touch her were during spars or brawls.

Suddenly, Naruko pulled her hand away from him with a soft, “sorry”. He realized that she’d caught him staring at their hands. She held her hand to her chest before slipping both hands into her pockets. She was awkwardly shrinking in on herself, not meeting his gaze. Sasuke didn’t care for extended physical contact with others but Naruko always seemed to thrive on it. He supposed he should mind, but he couldn’t find a reason to. Maybe he was just used to her by now? “Usuratonkachi, it’s fine.” She stared up at him in surprise for several seconds before a light blush rose on her cheeks. Just like that, she grinned at him before snatching up his hand and tugging him forward. She didn’t let go of his hand until they were seated at Ichiraku. When she did, he couldn’t help but notice the loss of warmth, but kept quiet. While he didn’t mind the contact, that didn’t mean he would latch onto her like a bur.

“One miso with extra pork!” Naruko exclaimed and practically vibrated in place with excitement.

Sasuke wasn’t a professional by any means but even he could tell that this was probably the farthest from “romantic” that they could get. Sasuke was still on his first bowl by the time Naruko was tipping her second back and draining the leftover broth from hers. He watched her wipe her mouth on her sleeve before shouting to Ayame for another bowl. Nope. Not romantic in the slightest. But… Sasuke stared at the absolutely ecstatic look on her face when Ayame brought over another bowl. (He supposed that he shouldn’t be surprised. She had always been pretty easy to please.)

Naruko was mid-slurp when she caught him staring. She smiled at him despite the noodles hanging from her mouth before eagerly returning to her bowl. What did it matter if they weren’t at a nice restaurant? As long as she was happy, he could be happy too. “Naruko,” he started. Her cheeks were stuffed when she turned a questioning gaze onto him. “I want to fight you.”

She blinked at him in surprise before loudly swallowing the food in her mouth. “You’re _on_ , Teme!” she shouted with a wide, excited grin. Without any hesitation, she gulped down the rest of her food and dumped her coupon and some money onto the counter from her frog wallet. Sasuke had just enough time to finish his food before they were dashing out of the ramen stand and over the rooftops towards the training grounds.

“I’ve been training hard, Teme. I won’t be going easy on you,” she said as she stretched her legs.

“Hn. I didn’t expect you to stop training. But it won’t make much difference,” Sasuke smirked and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword at his hip.

It had been far too long since their last spar. He missed this feeling and judging by the grin she was sporting; she felt the same. He let his eyes swirl into the sharingan and he watched her chakra swirl around her. Sasuke drew his sword and charged just as Naruko drew a kunai and met him halfway. “How long have you been using a sword?” she asked.

“Two years,” he replied and blocked a downward slash from her kunai. While he held her at bay, he funneled his lightning release through his sword. Her eyes widened in surprise and she leapt backwards to avoid the stray jolts of lightning. Without hesitation, he followed after her with his chirping chokuto drawn. He vaguely recalled her mentioning training with wind chakra. He wasn’t sure how far along she was in her training and he was curious as to how she would match his lightning.

He had to admit that he was pleased to know that her affinity was wind. His primary affinity was lightning (somewhat rare for an Uchiha) which gave her an advantage. Nonetheless, he was feeling a bit excited at the thought of her training to work around his primary affinity. It would only make for a better challenge. There was also the matter of his secondary affinity for fire. Only wind can assist and magnify fire. Sasuke tried to keep from looking too far into it, but his mind couldn’t help but ponder the possibilities of the types of jutsu they could create.

“ _Taju kage bushin no jutsu_ ,” he heard her say just before the training ground was flooded with orange.

He was actually starting to sweat. He could barely find a second to breathe with the number of clones she was putting out. His body was almost moving on muscle memory alone- duck, twist, turn, jump. Eventually, the movements got too repetitive for his tastes. Using one clone’s head as a springboard, he jumped into the air and flipped while gathering lighting in his left hand. With one swipe of his arm, a shower of senbon rained down on the sea of Naruko and quickly dispersed most of them. When he touched back down, Sasuke smirked with a soft, “hn”.

“If you want to beat me, you’ll need to do more than send out clones,” Sasuke said and ran his eyes over each of the Naruko left. They were all watching him with fierce determination on their identical features, but their chakra gave them away. None of them were the real one. Their chakra signatures were all identical, but the amount of chakra in each clone paled in comparison to the original- like candles compared to a roaring flame.

“Oi! You think you’re better than me, Teme!”

“I’ll kick your ass even if I’m a clone!”

She had to be planning something. Sasuke was mildly impressed that she had the foresight and patience to attempt to pull off whatever it was. He was confident that he’d be able to figure it out long before she could get close, though. It might be arrogant of him, but he was sure that no one knew her fighting style better than he did. And despite all her unpredictability, it never took him too long to figure out what she was thinking mid-battle.

He had staked his sword in the ground next to him to grab the Naruko charging at him by her jacket. Using her own momentum against her, he threw her into another clone trying to sneak up behind him. He was about to draw his sword again when he heard a screeching noise. Turning to the few remaining clones, he could see that they had paired off and were forming a new type of rasengan. He could see the blades of wind chakra spinning around her normal chakra. The clones were grinning wildly now.

“ _Futon: Rasengan!”_

Sasuke did his best to outrun the balls of chakra speeding towards him and he was only mildly surprised when they expanded. His eyes widened when some of the clones decided to face him head on with their jutsu, however. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see another rasengan speeding towards him, but he was just a second too slow. The rasengan popped into another clone that tackled him to the ground and landed a punch to his jaw. For a second, he was left dazed on his back, vaguely feeling his jaw throb as she landed a few more punches. Her thighs were clenched over his arms, keeping his upper body immobile. On his second try, Sasuke was able to generate lightning all over his body to disperse her clone.

He wasn’t proud to admit that he’d quickly lost control of the fight to her clones. His body moved on its own, dodging about half her strikes. At one point, one of the clones even managed to disarm him with a kunai. He could feel that natural competitive spirit rising up within him. He wouldn’t _lose_.

He would only need one for this. He didn’t want to go overboard. Suddenly making the tiger sign, Sasuke took a deep breath and compressed his chakra. ‘ _Katon: Gouryuuka no jutsu!’_ Sasuke dropped his jaw and exhaled the large, dragon head-shaped fireball at the clones, causing them to disappear on contact or from the intense heat alone. Using his chakra, Sasuke was able to control the fire to send it flying upwards. He watched as the clouds started to slowly gather just as the real Naruko reappeared from where she had been hiding along the edges of the training ground.

He watched and waited for her attack, but she was standing completely still with her eyes closed. Was she… meditating? “Need a break, Usuratonkachi?” he taunted, but he was secretly grateful. The thunder clouds were still darkening.

When she didn’t respond, he frowned slightly. He was about to toss some shuriken at her but stopped when he noticed her skin changing around her eyes. Her tanned skin was turning orange and when she opened her eyes, her sky-blue irises were yellow. Subtly shifting his stance, Sasuke waited for her attack. She grinned and said, “Took a while to gather the chakra, but I hope you’re ready! Here I come, Sasuke!”

That was all the warning he received before she practically blurred out of existence. He could barely see her movements as she struck with far more strength than he was used to from her. Was she using chakra to enhance her strength? No. He’d be able to see it, if only slightly. It was almost like the amount of chakra she was using was diminished. So how? He was left even more confused when a punch that he was _sure_ he had dodged, still managed to knock him backwards and away. When he turned back to her in question, he watched her give him a “V for victory” sign and grin smugly.

He knew that he wasn’t supposed to use it. His father, Shisui, and Itachi ( _especially_ Itachi) had warned him against it. A spar with Naruko _hardly_ counted as an emergency. Maybe if he refrained from using any jutsu? He just needed to be able to _see._ He let his chakra pool behind his eyes, his Mangekyo swirling into place. He watched her grin fall as a more serious look slid over her face. That’s right. She had no idea what his eyes could do. “Your training wasn’t for nothing. But I wonder how fast you really are,” Sasuke said as the sound of thunder clapped overhead. He watched some raindrops land on her cheek, but she didn’t take her eyes off him. He gathered lightning chakra in his hand and the clouds above responded with more thunder. Finally, she looked up in astonishment.

Kirin was his most powerful raiton jutsu. When he had been training with Kakashi to expand his ninjutsu repertoire, his former sensei had given him one main goal: develop his own original jutsu. Kakashi had only advised him during the process, remaining mostly hands off. Sasuke hadn’t originally known what type of jutsu would have fit into his arsenal best. He had a wide range of short to long distance jutsu from multiple ranks. An offhanded comment from Kakashi about the chidori had gotten Sasuke thinking.

“ _I only regret the amount of chakra needed to use it,”_ Kakashi had lamented. Sasuke’s chakra reserves had built up enough that he could use the Chidori multiple times without being winded. But if he could use an even more powerful jutsu that required less chakra?

This Kirin was abated compared to the one he had perfected. It didn’t take the form of a dragon made of pure lightning this time, being restricted to stray bolts of lightning. There was no need to go all out. With a wave of his hand, the first bolt of lightning struck.

“Teme!” she shouted as she dove out of the way, tucking and rolling back onto her feet. There was a black circle of scorched grass where she had been standing.

“If you have time to yell, you should dodge faster,” he responded and sent another bolt of lightning down. As she was in the middle of dodging, he moved.

He could track her movements better now, but she was still moving a bit too fast for him to hit. Every few seconds, her eyes would quickly glance up at the clouds warily as if she were waiting for another strike of lightning. It was when she was distracted that he managed to land a kick to her gut and send her flying while simultaneously calling down another lightning strike.

“ _Futon: Reppuushou!”_

Sasuke channeled some chakra to his feet to help him stick to the ground as he braced himself for the incoming winds. He watched her narrowly slip past the lightning, the uncontrolled release of winds and her own chakra pushing her out of the way of his attack. (He hadn’t realized that he’d tensed up during that last attack.) When she pushed herself back up from the ground with an outraged curse at him, he relaxed slightly. Luckily, the thunder clouds were starting to dissipate. She was still in the middle of cursing at him when he dashed across the training ground.

“Where’d you learn _that_ jutsu?” she questioned while ducking to avoid his fist.

“I developed it.”

He felt an odd sense of pride at her wide-eyed awe. But she was quick to snap out of it. “New jutsu or not, I can still kick your ass!”

“I doubt that. I had to hold back for your sake,” he said as he caught her punch with a chakra-enforced hand. He could have pat himself on the back for not flinching at the immediate sting of pain that shot up his arm.

“Teme!” she shouted and punched with her other fist. He made sure to reinforce his entire arm as he caught her other hand, doing his best to maintain his grip on her smaller fists. He was so close to her face he could feel her breaths coming out as harsh pants. He could feel his feet slowly sliding backwards on the grass from the force she was pushing against him. He tried to use his taller height to his advantage, but she wasn’t budging. Idly, he realized that they weren’t even sparing anymore, but this battle of wills felt just as intense as their earlier bout. He could feel his arms starting to weaken as she pushed him back another inch. It was pure bullheaded stubbornness that kept him going just long enough to notice the orange starting to fade around her eyes. He could hear her lamenting softly. Whatever technique she had used wasn’t permanent.

“Five minutes? Is that the best you can do, Usuratonkachi?” he couldn’t stop the taunt from escaping.

“Teme!” she shouted and used a quick burst of speed to grab him by the wrists. Just as the orange was fading away, she pushed her entire body forwards head-first. He had tried to lean back and away, but she’d still managed to smash the top of her head into his face. He thought he’d heard his nose crack. A loud curse jumped out of its own accord, but it was drowned out by her loud war cry. His breath left him with a “oomph” as she tackled him to the ground and straddled his waist.

After that, their legitimate spar devolved into a rowdy brawl accompanied by loud curses and insults. He couldn’t blame her entirely for it either. He was reacting to her wild energy the same way he’d done when they were kids. But now that they were older, it was much easier to restrain her in a chokehold and demand that she give up. She had immediately doubled- no, tripled- her efforts to break free, as if he had instead demanded she give up ramen. Like some sort of wild cat, she growled just seconds before actually biting him. She managed to wriggle out of his gasp while he stared incredulously at the fresh bite mark. He was still stunned that she’d actually _bitten_ him when he felt her fist strike his cheek. He was about to kick her away, but she was fast enough to straddle him again and raise another fist to strike. Before she could bring down her arm, he met her gaze and placed her under a mild genjutsu. She was only gone for a few seconds, but it was enough to push her off him and restrain her with a kunai.

When her chakra surged out of her and broke his genjutsu, she blinked twice to regain her bearings and immediately started to struggle in his hold. He had his knee on the middle of her back and a hand pinning both her wrists to her back. “Teme, you cheated! Who said you could use genjutsu?”

“I didn’t realize it was cheating. Did you want me to hold back even more and _let_ you win?” he replied. As he expected, she didn’t respond. Truthfully, he didn’t care to use genjutsu during their spars. He always preferred the challenge of meeting her head on- something that was easy to avoid with genjutsu. But he’d been a little _desperate_ this time…

When he moved to stand, he let the sharingan fade away from his eyes. He offered her a hand up this time even though his arms still felt like jelly. She had a few bruises on her face and blood on her chin from a split lip, but he was sure that he looked no better. Sasuke rested a glowing hand to his face, immediately relishing in the feel of healing chakra soothing the pain he felt.

He was picking up his sword from where he’d lost it earlier when he heard her exclaim, “You know how to heal?”

“Sakura taught me,” he said and placed his chokuto back in its scabbard. She had closed in on him and was staring at his face in awe.

“Heal me too, ‘ttebayo!” she said and rested his hand on her cheek.

For a moment, he paused at the feel of her. He’d felt her face plenty of times, usually under his fist, but never from a gentle caress of his hand. He could feel the light ridges of her whiskers under his thumb, but other than that her face felt smooth, soft and heated to the touch. He noticed her eyes widening slightly as a light flush colored her cheeks. He felt his heart pound once and skip a beat as he moved his hand away. “Maybe next time, Usuratonkachi. If you actually manage to beat me that is,” he said and poked her forehead. He started walking away from her and he could almost hear the seconds pass as her brain caught up to his words.

“Jerk!” she shouted as his back. Sasuke smirked.

~:~

Sasuke was sure that Shisui was getting far too much enjoyment out of their training sessions. The older boy was grinning widely and recounting their spar from his point of view. “You just need to focus more. That’s all,” Shisui said with an easy shrug.

“I _was_ focusing,” Sasuke gripped. They were walking back to the village together after spending all afternoon training. They’d had to go out of the village and find a clearing large and secluded enough for privacy. They were working with clan secrets after all.

Shisui rubbed a hand to his chin and hummed in thought. “It’s probably your chakra control then. You’re decent at fine control, but the Susanoo is different. It can be just as strenuous to handle such a large mass of chakra as it is to continuously handle with small amounts. You should try meditation.”

Sasuke raised a dubious brow.

“I _mean_ you should try refamiliarizing yourself with your chakra. Using the Susanoo requires a large amount of familiarity with your chakra to be able to form the full body. Try spending at least an hour a day getting more in tune with your chakra.”

Sasuke turned Shisui’s words over in his head. The older boy was right. Using the Susanoo didn’t come as easily to him as using Amaterasu. At first, he could just about get the ribcage to form and _maybe_ the skull but going any farther had quickly drained him of chakra. Now, he was almost able to get the full body to form (mostly due to his increased chakra control), but he was still unable to actually use the Susanoo to attack. Actually moving the behemoth required intense focus, awareness, and control. Sasuke hadn’t managed to hit Shisui with an attack yet. It was no more than a glorified shield at this point.

“Then again, it is _me_ that you’re training with. I’m sure that you would be able to simply crush a lot of shinobi,” Shisui mused.

“But if I want to hit anything moving even slightly faster than average, I’ll need to be better,” Sasuke finished and frowned.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. By all accounts, you’re doing better than I expected,” Shisui complimented.

“I’d be farther along, if we trained more often. Or if you at least allowed me to train with my mangekyo on my own,” Sasuke pointed out.

“I’m supposed to help you master your eyes. You can’t master them if you end up going blind after a few days. I know that you want to do more, but you should consider Itachi.”

Sasuke raised a confused brow. Shisui gave Sasuke a serious look. “He’s worried about you. He knows what you had to go through to get those eyes and he’s conflicted. He appreciates that you have a new tool to fight and protect yourself with, but he loathes what you had to go through to get it.”

“He never told me that,” Sasuke said in a soft voice.

“He’s been fretting over your eyes from the moment you got the sharingan. Awakening the sharingan is a rite of passage within our clan. But Itachi can’t ignore the cost of gaining such power. Truthfully, he hated his eyes when he got them. They’re a necessary evil to him now.”

Sasuke nearly paused at that. He’d never considered that Itachi had felt this way about their clan’s doujutsu. “Why are you telling me this?” Sasuke asked.

“Because Itachi didn’t. Because despite as much as you know, you can still stand to understand him better,” Shisui explained.

Sasuke frowned and stared down at the forest floor as they walked. He knew that Itachi was as complex as they come. When he was a child, he’d had no hope of deciphering Itachi’s reasons for what he did and spoke. But lately, Itachi had been opening up to him- sharing with him more than ever before. “Do you think he would have told me if I’d asked?”

“Perhaps. You’re not a little kid anymore. I think he’s starting to realize that. But I doubt he’d have brought it up without prompting though,” Shisui answered with a shrug. “Who knows? He might start coming to you for advice one day. He’ll need advisors for when he becomes Hokage. Prodigy or not, no one can do everything alone.”

Sasuke tried to suppress the happiness he felt at Shisui’s words, but the older boy must have still seen it because he grinned knowingly. Sasuke grunted dismissively while looking away from Shisui. He could hear Shisui’s nearly silent snickers and wisely chose to ignore them. Shisui could walk back to the village alone. Sasuke didn’t have to stick around and be-

Sasuke choked on a breath as he felt Shisui roughly pull him backwards by the back of his collar. As he was stumbling back, Sasuke watched a small ball of chakra screech and whir by where he had just been standing. He knew that attack.

“Sasuke!”

He wasn’t the only one getting in some late training. Naruko was standing with the Yondaime, the clearing around them only slightly destroyed with small craters and fallen trees. Naruko was scratching at the back of her head with a sheepish expression. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Where were you _aiming_ , Usuratonkachi?”

Immediately, she snapped up with a glare. “Your _head_ , Teme!”

Sasuke let his eyes rove over the many craters and scoffed. As he expected, she was ready to march over to him and probably shout until his ears starting ringing, but the Yondaime was quick to grip the back of her jacket. “Naruko, you asked me to help you train,” Minato reminded.

Naruko spared her father a look. “I know,” she said, but quickly turned back to Sasuke. “Were you training too?”

Sasuke noticed the Yondaime looked a bit put out at being brushed off by his daughter. “ _Obviously,”_ he replied.

Just like that, he could feel the air between them shift. Her eyes narrowed at him as she stared him down, as if trying to physically see the differences his training had brought out. He took the time to examine her as well. He could see light burns on her hands. _‘Chakra burns?’_ What was she doing with her wind chakra? Despite his curiosity, he didn’t ask. He’d find out soon enough. Besides, it’s not like whatever it was could top what he had been secretly working on. It was probably not the smartest thing to do with the Yondaime _right there_ , but Sasuke smirked at her. He could see the angry flush rising up her neck as her chakra lashed at his own. (He hadn’t even noticed that he’d unleashed his chakra.) Without conscious thought, his sharingan activated.

“Sorry to disturb you, Hokage-sama. We’ll get out of your hair,” Shisui loudly said started shoving at Sasuke’s back. With eye contact now broken, whatever hold that had been over him quickly vanished. He objected loudly back at Shisui, but his cousin was adamantly pushing him away. “I’m saving your life, you little brat,” Shisui hissed in his ear and shushined them away.

~:~

He may not know much about dating or romance, but Sasuke didn’t think he was doing too badly. Honestly, not much had changed in the dynamics of his relationship with Naruko. They still argued and fought regularly. She was still an idiot and she still called him a bastard. They did spend more time going for walks around the village where she would tell him every single detail of her day or every thought that crossed her mind, he would offer the bare minimum of responses, and let her energetic chatter wash over him.

And then there were the new activities (perks) that came with the territory of a relationship…

Sasuke couldn’t say that he’d ever been too interested in girls (or guys for that matter). There was always training or a mission to do. There had been plenty of girls within the village that would ask him out or give him chocolates on Valentine’s day. But he’d always been quick to dismiss them. Shisui had called him a late bloomer but Itachi had insisted that he was just _selective_. Once again, Itachi had been right.

While his interest in training and getting stronger hadn’t waned in the slightest, it was as if another, new part of his brain had emerged with the sole purpose of focusing on _attraction_ (to one person in particular). Naruko had always captured his attention in the past- she made him want to fight her, challenge her, beat her. But now she was capturing it for new reasons entirely.

He wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose or not. She seemed to adapt to their new dynamic almost too easily. While he was still wrestling with himself on how much he was willing to display, she barely hesitated. Naruko would always wordlessly ask for permission before attempting something new, which he appreciated. But once he found himself agreeing to her wishes (he was finding it harder and harder to deny her), she would enthusiastically capitalize on his willingness. He’d once semi-patiently sat through her attempts at getting his hair to lay flat. (Honestly, the things he let her get away with…)

“You’re in a good mood today,” Itachi said and sipped at his tea. Itachi had been adamant to see Sasuke at least once a day after he had moved out of the compound. Sasuke had put up token objection to this, but Itachi had seen right through it. Truthfully, Sasuke was seeing his brother more regularly now than he ever had when Itachi was in the ANBU. Now that Itachi had relinquished his mask and taken up the position of Hokage’s aid/advisor, he was still very busy. But at least he was within reach.

Sasuke hummed once in response and stared at nothing over Itachi’s shoulder. Itachi had been _insufferable_ with his silent, but ever-present air of “I told you so”. Sasuke was sure that Itachi would spend the rest of his life gloating. “So are you. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Izumi returning to the village yesterday, would it?” Sasuke asked and finally met his brother’s eyes.

Itachi stared at him for several seconds before actually smiling. It was barely there, but Sasuke was sure that it was large enough for just about anyone to notice. The table of girls next to them erupted in giggles. Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes, but Itachi acted as if he hadn’t noticed. In a completely un-Itachi move, Itachi shrugged carelessly once, took another bite of his dango, and casually leaned back in his seat.

Sasuke stopped to stare at his brother. Itachi always seemed to have slight shadows under his eyes and too many hard lines for his age- frighteningly similar in appearance to their middle-aged father. Those shadows were almost entirely receded now. The stress lines were practically filled out and smoothed away. A regular sleep schedule and a healthy diet perhaps? Itachi always watched what he ate, but maybe he was finally getting a chance to eat more than just ration bars and soldier pills for days.

“Sasuke?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Sasuke shook his head with a smirk. “You’ve gotten fat spending all day in the tower. Have you been slacking off on your training?”

Itachi smirked. “I hear _you’ve_ been training almost non-stop. Kakashi-san is relieved that you’ve found a permanent sparring partner,” Itachi said and stood. Sasuke refused to blush. “Maybe you can show me how much stronger you’ve gotten?”

Sasuke grinned in excitement. The giggles were coming out as squeals now.

~:~

Itachi could practically feel the excitement buzzing off of his little brother as he led the way to one of the training grounds on the village’s outskirts. Sasuke was far from the little boy that would follow at his heels and beg to train with him. But in moments like these, Itachi couldn’t help but see flashes of his adorable, little brother. Making sure to hide the smile on his face, Itachi stood opposite Sasuke and waited. Itachi let his senses take in the entire field, his mind already documenting different factors like wind speed and direction while whirring through different contingency plans. Itachi could sense Sasuke’s chakra, barely restrained and strong across the field.

“You aren’t going to spend half the fight relying on genjutsu, are you?” Sasuke taunted and rested a hand on the hilt of his chokuto.

Itachi smirked slightly. “I was under the assumption that I was to be testing you in all areas,” Itachi said and let his eyes swirl red. “If you don’t think your skills at genjutsu are satisfactory-”

Sasuke scoffed loudly and activated his sharingan. Itachi had just been goading his little brother, but Sasuke didn’t hesitate to take the bait. Even so, Itachi was sure that Sasuke was already working through different plans of attack and retaliation. His little brother did always favor a more direct approach.

Utilizing his speed, Itachi blurred into action while drawing a kunai. Judging by the slight widening of his eyes, he had managed to catch Sasuke off guard, but his little brother was quick enough to draw his blade to block the point of his kunai. Itachi could see the minute movements of Sasuke’s eyes, probably trying to detect genjutsu. Raising one foot to hook around the chokuto hilt and quickly disarm Sasuke, Itachi followed through with a quick to the jaw with his other. Sasuke had been quick to grab his sword while leaning back to avoid the kick, but he hadn’t noticed the subtle genjutsu Itachi had placed over him while still mid-air. While his brother stood with a slightly vacant look to his eyes, Itachi placed three more genjutsu over him and waited.

Genjutsu wasn’t Sasuke’s specialty. Being an Uchiha and having the sharingan afforded him some natural proclivity for the skill that would be more than enough to face the average shinobi. But Itachi had no interest in preparing Sasuke to face the average shinobi. He was already confident that his little brother was strong enough to face the average jounin and emerge victorious. But Itachi was looking towards the future. The Akatsuki was a legitimate threat on the horizon and a direct threat on Naruko-chan. Based off of past actions and what he knew of his brother’s behavior, Itachi was sure that only death or severe incapacitation would keep Sasuke away from a fight with an Akatsuki member. He would need to be ready.

It took four minutes and twenty-three seconds for Sasuke to break through all of his genjutsu. Despite remaining motionless for that time, Sasuke was panting slightly and glaring at him. “Better than I was expecting,” Itachi complimented. Immediately, Sasuke’s annoyed glare softened, and he seemed to preen himself quietly. Yes, still his adorable little brother.

“Does this mean you’ll take me seriously then?” Sasuke asked and gripped the hilt of his chokuto. He _had_ been taking Sasuke seriously. The genjutsu he’d placed were some of his stronger ones. He supposed a battle of the mind wasn’t what Sasuke would consider a true spar.

This time, Sasuke made the first move. Sasuke had gotten faster than he remembered. He wasn’t up to Shisui’s speed, but Itachi was sure that his little brother would get there in time. He moved his chokuto like an extension of himself- his movements tightly controlled, yet fluid. Itachi could see their mother in the way Sasuke struck. Without hand signs, Sasuke breathed a fireball while mid-dodge. His chakra control was far more refined as well. This must be the work of training with Haruno-san. All in all, Itachi was impressed by the amount of growth he saw in his brother.

“That’s good enough for a warm-up,” Itachi said and moved. He rushed towards Sasuke with his kunai drawn, but Sasuke met him halfway. They caught each other by the wrists, grips tight. Itachi focused on Sasuke’s hands and arms but couldn’t see any chakra augmenting his brother’s strength. He’d gotten physically stronger too…

Itachi felt the shift in the air before he saw the beginnings of lightning form in Sasuke’s hands. As Itachi was leaping backwards to dodge, he could hear Sasuke summoning a weapon from a seal hidden somewhere on his person. Without weaving a single sign, Itachi quickly summoned a clone in his place and ducked into the shadows of the nearby tree line. Itachi watched Sasuke toss a fuma shuriken at his clone before disappearing from sight. Had he seen through the clone? The shuriken sparked wildly, Sasuke’s Chidori powering it enough to cut through the kunai his clone used and dispel his clone entirely.

Itachi tried to detect Sasuke’s presence, but he had to admit that his brother had hidden himself quite well- almost as well as an ANBU operative. Kakashi-san’s influence perhaps? It was interesting how many different styles and techniques comprised his brother’s fight style.

Itachi stiffened. If he had been just slightly less aware, he might not have sensed the subtle genjutsu that Sasuke had placed over him. Idly, Itachi recognized the jutsu as one of his own. He wasn’t sure whether to be proud of how well Sasuke had casted the genjutsu or insulted that Sasuke thought that a trick like that would work on him. It took barely any effort to turn the genjutsu back onto Sasuke and catch him by surprise with a hand to the throat. Despite the true surprise in his little brother’s eyes, something felt off. Itachi narrowed his gaze.

With a chakra-enhanced squeeze to the neck, Sasuke froze just before starting to buzz and glow blue. _‘A lightning clone,’_ Itachi surmised and moved away before he could be electrocuted. He was still mid-air when he noticed the movement from the corner of his eye. As if everything was moving in slow motion, Itachi turned and attempted to dodge the attack. But his mind had already calculated that he wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to dodge the kick Sasuke was aiming at his chest. He could try for another clone, but the kick didn’t look too powerful. It would be more efficient to simply brace for the impact with chakra.

Itachi immediately regretted this decision, however. Sasuke’s kick had manage to knock the air from his lungs and send him flying out of the forest. Even before he managed to regain control and slide to a stop on the grass, Itachi knew that his ribs were bruised. He moved down onto one knee and tried to breathe through the pain. When he saw Sasuke hobble out from the tree line while cursing quietly and _colorfully_ (their mother would be so disappointed if she heard him), Itachi raised a brow. Sasuke managed to limp/hop over to him before collapsing onto the ground. Itachi stared down at the bruises rapidly darkening his brother’s foot and ankle.

“Your chakra control has gotten better, but not good enough to mimic Tsunade-sama. You’ll need to go to the hospital for that leg,” Itachi said and sat back. Itachi hadn’t even noticed that Sasuke was trying to use chakra to increase his strength. Maybe if he had, he could have stopped Sasuke from injuring himself.

“Sakura made it look easier than it was,” Sasuke explained and gently pulled his leg towards himself. “You should see someone about that bruise,” Sasuke said and nodded once towards Itachi’s chest.

Despite his shirt covering most of the area, Itachi could see the hints of dark blue bruising peeking out from the top of his V neck. Itachi gave Sasuke a dry look, but Sasuke smirked cockily. He was about to comment that Sasuke had caused more damage to himself than he had Itachi, but he paused. Itachi watched in mild intrigue as Sasuke’s hands glowed green. Medical ninjutsu? He hadn’t known that Sasuke was learning the skill. After a few seconds, Itachi pointedly cleared his throat. Sasuke raised a brow at his brother in question but then smirked again.

“Sorry, Nii-san. I’m running a bit low on chakra. But I’m sure that someone at the hospital can tend to you.”

He didn’t need his sharingan to see that Sasuke was lying through his teeth. “ _Sasuke_ ,” Itachi warned.

“Maybe they can give you a few lessons, too,” Sasuke said and wiggled his ankle experimentally. Hearing Sasuke’s laughter as he dodged the shuriken that Itachi had tossed was worth aggravating his bruised chest.

Itachi pushed himself onto his feet and straightened out while Sasuke was pushing himself up onto his feet. As he approached his little brother, Itachi couldn’t help the feelings of warm fondness and pride that were swelling within him. It had been a while since he had trained with Sasuke or seen Sasuke’s skills firsthand. And in that time his little brother had truly grown strong. Even so, Itachi could see that Sasuke had yet to reach his true potential. It wouldn’t be much longer now until Sasuke surpassed him.

Sasuke watched as Itachi raised a hand towards his head. Even though he always pouted and grumbled about the gesture, Itachi could see that Sasuke appreciated it for what it was- a non-verbal reminder of love and affection. At the last second, Itachi diverted his hand to reach around Sasuke’s head. He’d caught Sasuke by surprise, but Sasuke still let him pull him in for a soft bump of foreheads. The pure shock and surprise on Sasuke’s face had Itachi’s features softening. “You’ve grown strong, Sasuke,” Itachi said and allowed his walls to momentarily fall as he poured as much pride, love and sentimentality as he could into his words. If it was even possible, Sasuke’s eyes widened even further.

He looked so young- like the adorable little brother Itachi often saw. The two images were superimposing themselves over each other- a seven-year-old Sasuke grinning without a care in the world and the seventeen-year-old preparing to take on the true horrors of the world. Itachi could see the different emotions warring within Sasuke. He was touching at his forehead fondly while pouting and looking away. “What’s gotten into you?” Sasuke grumbled softly.

Before Itachi could answer, a shinobi he was vaguely familiar with shushined to the space at their side. He was on one knee and made eye contact with Itachi. Immediately, Itachi sobered up, all traces of emotion wiped from his face. “Itachi-san, I have a summons for you from Hokage-sama. It’s urgent,” the shinobi said.

“What happened?” Sasuke asked, almost demanding the messenger. The shinobi eyed Sasuke for a few seconds before looking to Itachi warily. If the matter was confidential, the Hokage would have sent an ANBU instead of a chunin. Almost imperfectively, Itachi nodded once.

“Sarutobi Asuma has fallen in battle.”

~Omake~

Naruko was going to give him even more grey hairs. Minato ran his fingers through his hair and sighed loudly. Not having the strength to hold himself up any longer, he slumped over on his desk and released a woeful moan.

“Sensei?” Kakashi questioned from where he was leaning against the wall of the Hokage’s office. Minato cracked an eye open to see Kakashi’s lone, grey eye watching him from over the top of his orange book. The sight of Kakashi reading Jiraiya’s book _again_ left Minato feeling another wave of failure. His lone student was a closeted pervert! Minato released an even louder moan.

“What’s wrong with him?” Minato heard just seconds before the sounds of his sensei’s clacking sandals filled the room.

“Hokage-sama returned from training with Naruko-chan like this,” Itachi’s monotone voice supplied from his desk across the room.

Jiraiya closed the door to his office with a pensive hum. “Did something happen to the brat?” Jiraiya asked.

“I’m not sure. He hasn’t been very forthcoming with how their training went,” Itachi replied.

“Sensei, we can’t help if we don’t know what’s wrong,” Kakashi supplied in a wary voice.

Minato pushed himself up from his desk and faced his student. “Naruko cut our training short. She seemed so happy to be training with me. I made sure to clear my schedule to make time for her,” Minato explained. Itachi glanced at the extra stacks of documents on his own desk and the distinct lack of papers on the Hokage’s desk with a raised brow.

“I’m sure she appreciated the effort,” Kakashi soothed.

“ _Did_ she?” Minato asked skeptically. “Everything was going great, but then _he_ showed up.”

Kakashi slumped with a sigh while Itachi went back to his work with a shake of his head. Jiraiya was the only one still giving Minato his full attention. “Minato, we talked about this. Naruko isn’t a little kid anymore. So she’s got herself a boyfriend. What’s the big deal?” Jiraiya shrugged.

“ _Boyfriend!?_ No one told me he was her…” Minato couldn’t even say the word. His little girl, his precious Naruko, his _innocent daughter_ … Minato barely held back the wobble in his chin.

Itachi looked up from his desk again when he heard the loud thud of Minato’s head hitting his desk. He locked eyes with the other two inhabitants of the room. Kakashi looked to be half a second away from fleeing through the window and Jiraiya seemed to be contemplating it as well. Itachi was sure that “ _provide emotional support”_ wasn’t listed as one of his official duties as Hokage aid.

“Hokage-sama-” Itachi started, but Minato cut him off.

“He practically _stole_ her from me. We were training and it was going so well and then he just _swooped_ in out of nowhere. She just left me behind to go follow after him,” Minato moaned in a slightly muffled voice. He was still faceplanted onto his desk.

“Makes sense. He’s a decent looking brat,” Jiraiya mused and rubbed at his chin. Minato softly whimpered.

“He insults her,” Minato complained. Ever since they were children, he’d called Naruko all manner of horrid insults. Minato was _more_ than aware of the absolutely _foul_ language that Uchiha boy used. And he’d only gotten worse as he’d aged! Poor Mikoto and Fugaku.

“She does the same to him. At this point, it’s almost like a pet name,” Kakashi pointed out.

Minato continued on as if he hadn’t heard him, “He gave her a black eye just two days ago.” Ever since she had returned to the village, Naruko would come home with more bruises and cuts. His wonderful, loving and ever-amazing wife was always quick to ensure that Naruko wasn’t truly hurt, but then she would loudly applaud Naruko for whatever hits she had managed to land in return.

“I believe they were sparring, and she also broke one of his ribs during it,” Itachi said and turned the page of the citizenship request form he was reading through.

“And he doesn’t even pay when they go out for ramen!” Minato loudly objected as he suddenly sprang up from his desk. His dearest daughter deserved more than a cheapskate!

“Minato, despite all my attempts to teach you the ways of women, only you would think getting ramen counts as a date,” Jiraiya said with a roll of his eyes. “Look, they’re kids. Kids are gonna do what they want. Live and let live, I say.”

Minato nearly threw a kunai at his former sensei. What _terrible_ advice!

“Minato-sama, I assure you that my brother is very respectful towards Naruko-chan. I am almost positive that it is her that is dictating how quickly their relationship progresses,” Itachi soothed.

Minato stared at Itachi for several seconds as he thought. Itachi was a good man. He wouldn’t lie to him. Minato was also sure that Itachi deeply respected him due to the way that he handled the situation with the Uchiha so many years ago.

“There you go! It sounds like he’s just like you, Minato!” Jiraiya exclaimed. Minato’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Good looks can get you only so far when you can’t even _talk_ to a girl properly.”

Minato flushed in embarrassment. He could see Kakashi hiding behind his novel to hide is amusement and even Itachi was shaking silently in laughter behind some papers. Minato did throw that kunai this time. Unfortunately, he hadn’t caught his sensei and Jiraiya had _rudely_ bowled down the door to his office in his attempts to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhh... Sorry? But at the same time, not really. In a perfect world, none of the good guys would die. Or at the very least they would be brought back to life. But what's the life of a shinobi without consequences?


End file.
